Spanish Foreign Minister says EU may lack necessary funds to sustain financial aid to Ukraine
Date
12/10/2023 8:16:22 AM
(MENAFN) Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares hinted in a Sunday interview with a Spanish newspaper that the European Union might lack the necessary funds to sustain its financial assistance to Ukraine.
Albares, addressing the suggested provision of a new €50 billion (USD53.8 billion) aid package for Kiev, suggested that the EU might have to reassess its priorities.
“We are in the early stages of discussing this multiannual financial framework. Ukraine has very important needs that we have been covering up until now. Yet funds are limited, and priorities must be analyzed,” the official declared.
He pointed out that, although the EU member states collectively "agree to maintain support for Ukraine as long as necessary," the intensification of hostilities between Israel and Palestine in Gaza has “shifted the focus.”
Albares added that the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine "is a decision that is solely in the hands of Russia." However, he indicated that the bloc is unlikely to abandon its sanctions policy, aiming to compel Moscow to cease the military operation.
“We cannot allow basic principles such as sovereignty or territorial integrity to be violated in Europe. It would be going back. We are not going to give up,” he declared. The official committed to backing Ukraine's appeal for EU membership as well.
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