EU proposes $5 bln financial aid to Ukraine

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed €5 billion ($5 billion) in financial aid to Ukraine, in the latest instalment of a promised €9 billion ($9 billion) rescue package agreed by EU leaders in May.

“The situation in Ukraine requires our full support,” the commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a tweet announcing the emergency loans to Kyiv.

A European diplomat said the rescue was part of the $39 billion in aid promised by the G7 group of nations to prop up Ukraine’s battered public coffers.

Originally promised by European leaders in May, the EU’s €9 billion ($9 billion) was held up as some member states argued over whether a country at war was in a position to sign on to long-term loans.

Brussels disbursed the first €1 billion of the package in early August and, on Wednesday, the commission said the remaining three billion euros “will be provided as soon as possible.”