Spain and Italy are not ready to support the European Unionʼs proposal to increase military aid to Ukraine to €40 billion by 2025.
This is reported by Reuters.
The proposal was announced by Kaia Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The amount of aid could double what the bloc provided in 2024 (€20 billion).
After a meeting of foreign ministers from the 27 EU countries in Brussels, Kallas said her proposal had "broad political support" and discussions on the details were now underway.
According to diplomats, the proposal is particularly supported in Northern and Eastern European countries. Southern European countries, on the other hand, have been more reserved.
The foreign ministers of Italy and Spain, the EUʼs third and fourth largest economies, said it was too early to take a final position on the proposal.
"We are waiting for the phone call between Trump and Putin to see if there will be any steps forward to achieve a ceasefire," commented Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, adding that Italy must also find money to increase its own defense spending.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez stressed: "We will see how the debate goes, but there is no decision on this at the moment."
Albarez noted that Spain has already pledged €1 billion in military aid to Ukraine this year. And he said that Madrid was not "waiting for Callas to make an offer" to show that Kyiv could count on Spanish support.
According to three EU diplomats, during the discussion, Slovakia made it clear that it would not hinder Kai Kallasʼ plan, but would not contribute to the new aid.
Both Hungary and Slovakia are not providing military aid to Ukraine. European diplomats note that both countries will not block the aid plan because their contributions to it will be voluntary.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.