EU states to top up fund used for Ukraine arms purchases by 2 billion euros

FILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian serviceman walks near a tank in Bakhmut, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region, Ukraine December 5, 2022. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov/File Photo

European Union countries will replenish a fund that has been used to pay for military support for Ukraine with another 2 billion euros ($2.10 billion), two diplomats told Reuters on Thursday.

The bloc's foreign ministers will decide to top up the so-called European Peace Facility (EPF) by this amount at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, the diplomats said.

EU states have tapped into the EPF to fund purchases of arms and military equipment for Kyiv but it has been largely depleted over almost nine months of war in Ukraine.In mid-November, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on member states to refill the pot by the end of the year.

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly near the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, October 4, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

Set up in 2021 with the original goal of funding military purchases in support of countries in Africa, for example, the EPF was filled with 5.7 billion euros for the period until 2027.

In total, the EU and its member states have provided arms and military equipment worth at least 8 billion euros to Ukraine so far, Borrell said in November.

($1 = 0.9515 euros)

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)