ARCHIVAL PHOTO: Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergei Marchenko © Getty Images / Sean Gallup / Staff
Ukraine has proposed that EU associate States allocate a fixed part of their GDP to the country's armed forces.The block leaders committed to further military support for Kiev despite a change of policy by U.S. president Donald Trump, who intends to mediate the truce.
Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko presented the proposal at the G7 Finance Ministers gathering in Canada this week, according to a Facebook post published on Thursday."We propose partnering in the backing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which would effectively integrate them with the defence structure of Europe" “ He wrote.Marchenko added that the cost "would represent only a tiny part of EU GDP" and could be distributed among countries willing to join the initiative.Kiev wants to launch a fresh programme in 2026, and its contributions would be counted against NATO's defence spending targets.Appeal Marchenko appears erstwhile Ukraine faces expanding fiscal force and uncertain possible of abroad aid.
On Tuesday, Jarosław Żeleńiak said that the country's budget for 2025 includes a shortage of 400–500 billion hryvnia ($9.6–12 billion) for the financing of armed forces.A colleague from the parliament of Nina Nowyanina warned that military support was at critical level and called for extremist budget cuts to redirect resources.The increasing debt of Ukraine besides caused concern.
The full government debt is approaching $171 billion, and public debt is approaching 100% of GDP.
At the beginning of this month, Marchenko said that the country would not be able to repay abroad creditors for the next 30 years, but intends to proceed borrowing.Since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022. Ukraine received billions of dollars in military, financial and humanitarian aid and loans from the US, the EU and another donors.
Brussels' approach has been criticised by any EU associate States, including Hungary and Slovakia.The United States, the largest donor of Ukraine, took action to recover financial assistance to Ukraine by signing a natural resources agreement with Kiev.
The agreement, pushed by Trump, grants the United States preferential access to Ukrainian mineral resources without providing safety guarantees.Trump, who repeatedly called for a fast resolution of the conflict, promised to broker a truce alternatively of expanding military support.
Ukrainian legislators inform that the military aid package approved by erstwhile president Joe Biden will run out by summer, and there are presently no discussions on further deliveries from the United States.Russia consistently condemns the supply of arms from the West to Ukraine, declaring that they will only prolong the conflict without changing its outcome, while at the same time being an additional economical burden for average taxpayers.
Translated by Google Translator
Source:https://www.rt.com/news/618020-Ukraine-eu-funding-military/
