EU grants 500m euros more in military aid to Ukraine

Journalists queue at a bus as they leave the meeting of the 'Ukraine Defense Contact Group' at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, Friday, Jan 20, 2023. Defense leaders are gathering at Ramstein Air Base in Germany Friday to hammer out future military aid to Ukraine, amid ongoing dissent over who will provide the battle tanks that Ukrainian leaders say they desperately need. (MICHAEL PROBST / AP)

BRUSSELS — European Union (EU)  military assistance to Ukraine will be topped up by a further 500 million euros ($543 million), foreign ministers agreed here on Monday.

Training for the country's military worth 45 million euros has also been agreed, EU foreign chief Josep Borrell said.

Total EU support for the country is now approaching 50 billion euros, making the EU the leading provider of aid to Ukraine

"This is the seventh package of military aid for Ukraine," Borrell told a press conference after the EU foreign ministers' meeting.

READ MORE: Efforts needed to resolve conflict between Russia and Ukraine

This brings the total amount of military financial aid to Ukraine financed through the European Peace Facility to 3.6 billion euros. Meanwhile, total EU support for the country is now approaching 50 billion euros, making the EU the leading provider of aid to Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly said that the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine does not help resolve the conflict but prolongs the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

The ministers also discussed the situation in Iran, reaching an agreement on a fourth package of sanctions on 37 Iranian officials, high-level figures and organizations. These include units of the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Among the persons subject to sanctions are representatives of the government and Iranian parliament, important political and media figures, and high-ranking members of the Iranian security forces.

READ MORE: PM: Ukraine's power system functioning despite Russian strikes

However, Borrell said that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps could not be listed as a terrorist group without a court decision.