In March, the European Commission will transfer to Ukraine the first tranche of 4.5 billion euros of macro-financial assistance for a total amount of 50 billion euros, which will be offered to Kyiv from the EU budget until 2027, the president announced on Saturday in Kyiv. executive director of the Ursula von der Leyen community.

Ursula von der Leyen in KyivPhoto: Yefrem Lukatsky / AP / Profimedia

However, this aid is not enough to cover Ukraine’s wartime financing needs. According to the assessment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), only for the current year, Ukraine needs assistance in the amount of 37.3 billion dollars (over 34 billion euros) to support financial stability, the EFE news agency, citing Agerpres, notes.

Meanwhile, in the United States, a new $61.4 billion financial aid package intended for Ukraine and for which Democratic President Joe Biden has asked Congress for approval is still being blocked by Republicans.

Ursula von der Leyen, who arrived in the Ukrainian capital to mark two years since the beginning of the Russian military campaign against Ukraine, after meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys, announced the allocation of this year’s first tranche of financial aid to Ukraine. Shmyhal, with whom he also discussed the development of the Ukrainian military industry and Ukrainian exports, which enjoy preferences on the EU market due to the abolition of tariffs for aid to Ukraine.

Without giving details, Ursula von der Leyen mentioned in her message published on Platform X that she had discussed with Prime Minister Schmihal “problems at the land border” caused by these exports, referring to protests by farmers from neighboring countries against grain imports and other Ukrainian agricultural products, which are sold at reduced prices and exempted from the obligation to meet European standards, and Polish farmers keep the border points with Ukraine blocked.

A working group led by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal arrived at the border with Poland on Friday afternoon to speak with Polish officials about rising tensions caused by protests by Polish farmers, but the meeting did not take place as the Prime Minister’s government Minister of Poland Donald Tusk did not listen to the call of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi to come to the meeting.

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