NATO and the EU - unconditional support for Ukraine

Since the beginning of Russia's illegal aggression in Ukraine, the European Union and NATO have sided with the authorities in Kiev, condemning the aggression and providing several packages of humanitarian and military support.

The day after the outbreak of the conflict, on February 25, 2022, on the occasion of the NATO extraordinary summit, it was established, for the first time in the history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the deployment of elements of the NATO Rapid Reaction Force, in the context of collective defense (AFP , dpa and Reuters). Regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the most serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security in recent decades, NATO leaders said in context that the measures the alliance has taken and will take are and remain preventive, proportionate and non-escalating .

The leaders of the NATO member states, gathered in Brussels in an extraordinary summit, approved, on March 24, 2022, four new battle groups in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. At the Madrid Summit of NATO, on June 28-29, 2022, a declaration was adopted by which it was decided to create a consolidated support package, which will accelerate the delivery of non-lethal military equipment, improve Ukraine's cyber defense and its resilience and will support the modernization of the defense sector.

At the NATO Summit in Vilnius, on July 11, 2023, the heads of state and government of NATO reaffirmed the commitment made at the Summit in Bucharest, from 2008, according to which Ukraine will become a member of NATO. On July 12, 2023, the first NATO-Ukraine Council was held, created with the purpose of taking joint political decisions and holding emergency consultations.

NATO's website says the organization helps coordinate Ukraine's requests for assistance and supports allies in providing humanitarian and non-lethal aid. NATO member countries individually send weapons, ammunition and many types of light and heavy military equipment, including anti-tank and air defense systems, howitzers and drones. Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, the Allies have committed about 100 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine, writes the NATO website.

As far as the European Union is concerned, the March 2022 European Council decided to establish a rapid intervention military force of 5,000 combatants, operational until 2025.

In order to further weaken Russia's war capability, the European Union adopted 12 packages of sanctions against the Kremlin authorities. Among the 12 sanctions packages are: bans on drone engine exports; bans on exports of dual-use products and technologies; bans on investments in the mining sector; prohibitions on transactions with the Russian Regional Development Bank; provision of advertising, market research and opinion polling services, restrictions on Russia's access to capital markets, ban on access to SWIFT for certain Russian banks, ban on new investments in the Russian energy sector, ban on exports to Russia of luxury goods, ban on imports of coal and other solid fossil fuels from Russia, ban on imports of steel products from Russia.

The latest sanctions package was adopted by the EU on 18 December 2023. It imposed restrictive measures on a further 61 individuals and 86 entities responsible for actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression, the EU and its member states have provided Ukraine with over euro82 billion in support: over euro31 billion in financial, budgetary and humanitarian support; euro17 billion in support for refugees within the EU; 27 billion euros in the form of military support; 9.45 billion euros in the form of grants, loans and guarantees provided by EU member states, according to data published on the website of the European institutions in Brussels.

At the extraordinary European Council on February 1, 2024, the EU decided to allocate a new financial aid to Ukraine, in the amount of 50 billion euros (17 billion euros in the form of a grant and 33 billion euros in the form of a loan).