The EU is working on providing Ukraine with 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) for ammunition, top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said on March 20, as a much larger 40-billion-euro ($43 billion) package still lacks consensus.
Speaking to journalists ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Kallas called the 5-billion-euro tranche a "realistic plan" that is currently under discussion.
Despite Kallas saying earlier this week that the tranche of 40 billion euros has "broad political support" among EU members, some countries, such as Italy, France, or Spain, remain hesitant.
Additional European assistance is ever more crucial for Kyiv now as future support from the U.S., the leading military donor, grows increasingly uncertain under President Donald Trump.
The sum of 5 billion euros for purchasing 2 million large-caliber ammunition rounds is seen as a first step that could be achieved before a possible consensus on the more significant tranche.
EU officials have been discussing ways to move the bigger package forward, including basing contributions on consent to avoid a likely veto by Hungary, the bloc's most Russian-friendly country.
The contributions are to be based on each member state's gross national income (GNI), which has also become a key sticking point in the discussions.
"Some countries have done more, and some countries are bigger economies," Kallas said.
Some of the EU's smaller members, such as Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, or Latvia, have committed considerably greater shares of their national GDP to support Ukraine than some larger economies like France, Spain, or Italy.
"In the short term, we have to support Ukraine, and it's absolutely obvious that Ukraine needs our military assistance; Ukraine needs ammunition, long-range missiles, and we are ready to provide it," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said after arriving at the summit.
European leaders have gathered for a two-day summit in Brussels to discuss support for Ukraine and ways to boost defense spending. President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to deliver an online address to the summit on March 20.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
