EU promises new military, infrastructure assistance to Ukraine

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell on Monday promised roughly $1.8 billion in military aid to Ukraine would arrive in early August. European countries would purchase some of that military aid from Ukraine’s own defense industry, Borrell said. He added that European countries would also work to supply electricity generators to Ukraine. Russian airstrikes are ravaging Ukraine’s infrastructure and winter is just months away, Borrell said. The EU on Monday also extended its sanctions against Russia for another six months until the end of January.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday said that he’d asked the EU for air defense assistance and help rebuilding Ukraine’s power grid. He thanked the EU for allowing Ukraine to use funds from frozen Russian assets. He also thanked European leaders for seeking to buy weapons from Ukraine’s defense manufacturing industry. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said his country was seeking to build a diversified network of nearly 30 countries to provide supplies for its war against Russia.

What has Russia had to say? Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday promised that if European countries did dig into frozen Russian assets, they would feel the Kremlin’s fury. Late last week, the Russian embassy in London criticized the UK’s decision to extend sanctions against Russia, saying it demonstrated a lack of ideas about how to address the conflict in Ukraine, according to Russian state media.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen winning another 5-year term and insisting she would run a pro-Ukraine administration.