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EU alliance member states have expressed reservations about committing $21.4 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine.
Defense ministers from EU countries are preparing to discuss a plan proposed by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in July. According to this plan, the EU pledges to provide up to $5 billion in military aid annually for the next four years, as part of a broader security commitment to strengthen Ukraine's defense in the face of the ongoing conflict. However, several countries, including Germany, have expressed reservations, according to diplomats.
According to information provided by the EU's foreign department, the EU has already supplied $26 billion worth of weapons and equipment. A senior diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "Germany raised a lot of questions... and it's fair. After all, we are talking about a lot of money."
As military aid is debated, EU member states are also discussing a proposal to provide nearly $54 billion in economic aid to Ukraine.
Some EU member states have argued that making long-term commitments will be challenging as domestic budgets tighten.
In addition, the EU faces the challenge of delivering 1 million rounds of ammunition to Kyiv by March of next year.
For months, Hungary has refused to release over $500 million in funds that EU member states pledged through the EU's peace mechanism for Ukraine, citing Ukraine's blacklisting of Hungary's OTP Bank. After the bank was removed from the blacklist, Hungary has insisted on guarantees that the bank will not be blacklisted again.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday that he does not support advancing negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. This signals that Hungary could be an obstacle to Ukraine's ambitions to join the EU.
The EU is the world's largest trading bloc. All EU member states must agree to admit new member states, giving Orbán significant veto power.
Orbán said in an interview on Friday that Ukraine is far from gaining EU member status. "Hungary's clear stance is that negotiations cannot begin."
The Orbán government has consistently refused to provide weapons to Ukraine in its resistance against Russia. Hungary has also accused Ukraine of violating the rights of the Hungarian minority in western Ukraine by restricting the use of the Hungarian language in schools.
Unmanned Boats Sink Russian Ships
On Friday, Ukraine's military intelligence agency said that Ukrainian unmanned boats sank two small Russian landing ships near Crimea.
Reuters could not independently verify this claim. Russia has not commented on the incident. The headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is located in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
The initial report from Ukraine's military intelligence agency said that the two small Russian amphibious landing ships were hit at night.
The report stated, "As a result of the attack, both ships sank to the bottom; the 'Akula' sank on the spot, and the 'Serna,' after an attempt to salvage, also went to the bottom."
The Ukrainian military said that the two ships had personnel on board and were also loaded with armored vehicles. Ukraine claims that some Russian naval vessels have been relocated from Sevastopol following recent attacks.
In the Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions, local officials said that Russian shelling and drone attacks on Friday killed three people and caused damage to infrastructure, power lines, and a natural gas pipeline at an unspecified location.
These regions are on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, which is occupied by Russia, and Russian forces often shell these areas from the eastern bank.