LONDON, December 16. /TASS/. European Union leaders missed their mark at their most recent summit in Brussels as they failed to approve 50 bln euros in aid for Ukraine, an unnamed Western diplomat told the Financial Times (FT).
"This was the moment for the EU leaders to take the stage," said a Western diplomat told the British newspaper, commenting on the EU’s two-day summit that wrapped up on December 15. "And they missed their mark," he added.
According to the FT, the EU’s failure to coordinate more financial support for Kiev came at a sensitive moment in the Ukraine conflict, with the Ukrainian counteroffensive failing and firepower running low just as Moscow is intensifying attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure. The lack of new aid may force Kiev to print money, risking its economic and financial stability.
"Ukraine has liquidity through January, but it gets a little tight after that. We need to move quickly. Ukraine is right to be nervous. It’s not a comfortable situation at all," the FT quoted an EU official as saying.
On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Budapest was not going to greenlight extra funding to Ukraine. He confirmed that he had blocked revamping the bloc’s budget to allocate 50 bln euros to Ukraine in 2024-2027.