EU Defence Ministers To Discuss Ukraine Support, Military Readiness
European Union defence ministers are to meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss support for Ukraine and improving European defence readiness.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal and NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska are expected to join EU ministers for an exchange on Ukraine’s most pressing needs in its defence against Russia and further financial and military support.
EU ministers also planned to discuss ongoing efforts to increase the bloc’s defence readiness after several initiatives were launched in recent months.
This included a set of flagship rearmament projects proposed by the European Commission in October in the areas of border protection, drone defence, air defence and space to strengthen Europe’s military capabilities and deter Russia.
The meeting came a day after EU countries interested in receiving loans through the EU’s flagship 150 billion pound (174 billion dollar) defence fund, dubbed SAFE, had to submit detailed plans on how they plan to spend the money.
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Nineteen out of the bloc’s 27 members initially expressed interest in participating in the funding scheme.
Last week, talks on Britain joining the fund as a non-EU country reportedly failed over disagreements on how much London should pay to participate.
Similar negotiations have been held with Canada.
