All 27 EU members agree to allocate €50bn to Ukraine

All 27 EU member states have agreed to provide €50 billion to Ukraine, European Council President Charles Michel has announced. He made the announcement today after the official start of the EU leaders' summit in Brussels. The opening of the meeting was preceded by discussions with individual leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

"We have an agreement. All 27 member states have agreed to an additional €50bn of aid for Ukraine within the EU budget," he said.

"This provides permanent, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine.

"The EU is taking the lead and responsibility in supporting Ukraine; we know what is at stake," the European Council President added.

It is not officially known on what terms Ukraine will receive this money, as the summit is still ongoing. Hungary demanded that EU leaders vote on the extension of the aid every year, rather than approving it once for all four years. Instead, the European Commission proposed an annual debate rather than a vote.

According to a document seen by The Guardian, the leaders agreed on the following text:

"On the basis of the Commission's annual report on the implementation of the Mechanism for Ukraine, the European Council will hold an annual debate on the Mechanism to provide guidance. If necessary, after two years, the European Council will invite the Commission to make a proposal for a review in the context of a new MFF."

Charles Michel's spokesperson confirmed that Viktor Orbán had agreed with other EU leaders to provide Ukraine with a €50 billion support package.

He finally bowed to pressure after a series of meetings last night and this morning with the prime ministers of Italy, France and Germany. Brussels and Budapest have agreed on two compromises - in two years' time, the European Commission will conduct a spending review. But there will be a vote on this. There will also be an additional measure on the rule of law conditionality mechanism, the spokesman said.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal commented on the decision. He said that the approved Ukraine Facility programme is a four-year programme totalling €50 billion. A significant portion of these funds will be allocated to the state budget and will help finance the budget deficit.

"Another component of the programme is the creation of a special investment instrument to cover risks in priority sectors. It will help attract additional funds for investments," he said.