EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, European Council President Antonio Costa and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos made Kyiv the first foreign capital to visit in their new positions. With President-elect Donald Trump due to take office in January there are fears within the EU and elsewhere that US military and financial aid to Ukraine will slow down, or even stop altogether. Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies. President Zelensky has long been asking for more weapons to fight the Russians and more money to fund the war effort. After holding talks with Zelensky, Costa gave details of the EU's financial aid to Ukraine at a news conference. "On energy, we have financed the repair of a third of the existing electricity generation capacity and more will come. This month, the European Union will provide Ukraine with an additional 4.2 billion euros to support the Ukrainian budget," he said. "On top of this, starting next month, we plan to provide, for a full year, every month, 1.5 billion euros of assistance. This money comes from the proceeds of Russia's frozen assets and can also be used for military purposes," Costa added. It was not immediately clear whether this was new money being promised - or a repeat of a previous announcement of financial aid the EU made earlier in the year. Back in May, the EU's 27 member states reached an agreement to use the interest earned on some 210 billion euros in Russian central bank assets for military support for Ukraine and rebuilding efforts in the war torn country. The money, most of which is held in Belgium, was frozen as part of sanctions packages in retaliation for Moscow's full-scale invasion. At the time Brussels estimated that the interest on those assets would amount to about three billion euros each year. Costa also announced a new set of sanctions against Russia is being prepared, without giving further details as to who or what they might target. "We will also increase the pressure on the Russian economy and further weaken Russia's ability to wage war. We are preparing a 15th sanctions package against Putin's regime," Costa said. — Euronews
