MADRID, January 22. /TASS/. The European Union and its member countries have provided Kiev with ammunition and weapons worth 30 billion euros and trained almost 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers during the conflict with Russia, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said in an article for the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

"The EU and its member states have provided unprecedented economic, humanitarian and military support, supplying Ukraine with ammunition and weapons worth almost 30 billion euros and training almost 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers on EU territory," he said.

He said the conflict helped strengthen "transatlantic unity."

"However, we have often been too slow to deliver the necessary weapons to Ukraine and have acted only when it appeared that Russia could move forward," Borrell conceded. "With an eye to the future, we need a paradigm shift: We need to move from supporting Ukraine 'for as long as it takes' to committing to 'whatever it takes' for it to achieve victory."

At the latest EU summit in Brussels from December 14-15, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked amendments to the EU's 2024-2027 budget proposal that would have provided 50 billion euros to Ukraine. Hungary proposed to provide financial aid to Kiev incrementally, on an annual basis, and with strict control over spending. Budapest also called for using extra-budgetary sources of financing, instead of taking out common loans.