Von der Leyen announces 1.9 bln for Ukraine by the end of the month. But Zelensky insists, “We need Patriots”

Brussels – Just days after the peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, the Ukraine Recovery Conference is underway in Berlin, with German Chancellor Olof Scholz hosting the European Commission outgoing President–and candidate for re-election– Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky. The EU leader puts on the table the disbursement of 1.9 billion from the Ukraine Assistance Fund by the end of the month and the release of profits generated from frozen Russian assets by July.

A total of 3.4 billion euros – proceeds from Russian assets are estimated at 1.5 billion by 2024 – in the next month and a half. Von der Leyen also announced the signature of the “first agreements worth 1.4 billion euros with our partner banks to attract investment from the private sector” to reconstruct Ukraine. Since February 6, when the European Parliament and the EU Council agreed on the 50 billion fund for Ukraine, Brussels has sent to Kyiv 6 billion.

Resources from the EU Ukraine facility are for the country’s recovery, reconstruction, and modernization. They are conditional on a series of reforms and a spending plan by the Kyiv government. “Ukraine has fulfilled all the steps that we had set out. And this is why we believe the EU should begin accession talks with Ukraine already by the end of this month,” von der Leyen stressed. At the same time, profits from Russian assets will finance 90 percent of Kyiv’s military effort. This is what interests Zelensky as it is a particularly critical time on the battlefield. “We need at least seven Patriot systems,” Zelensky insisted because “air defense is crucial,” and it is “necessary to take away from Russia the advantage it has in the air.”

In Kharkiv, “Russian bombs have come raining from the sky again, hitting apartment buildings and shopping centers,” von der Leyen evoked, and the EU “must provide Ukraine with the means to defend itself.” To remedy the Kremlin’s systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, von der Leyen listed the nearly 500 million euros “for urgent repairs,” the additional “1,000 generators for urgent power generation,” and the “nearly 8,000 solar panels that are “about to arrive” in Ukraine. But – in Zelensky’s words – it would be more effective to improve air defense and prevent Russian raids from touching Ukrainian soil. German Chancellor Scholz appealed to all other countries supporting Ukraine, asking them for an effort to “strengthen Kyiv’s air defenses.”