MOSCOW, Feb 25 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- The first package of EU military aid to Ukraine under the €90 billion (US$105.9 billion) loan will include drones and ammunition, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported, quoting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"The first priority of the (porcupine) loan is to address your most urgent defence needs. It will help to procure, to produce, to develop, and to secure advanced defence equipment for the brave Ukrainian forces. That ranges from drones, to missiles, to ammunition. And the work has already started. Together with the Ukrainian forces, we have identified a first priority package. Our aim is to deliver it before Easter. It includes drones and ammunition," von der Leyen said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
On December 19, a summit in Brussels concluded with the EU temporarily abandoning plans to seize Russian state assets and instead agreeing to extend the €90 billion loan to Ukraine from the EU budget. Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia refused to take on responsibility for the loan.
On Monday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Hungary had blocked the 20th package of anti-Russia sanctions and the €90 billion loan to Ukraine due to Kyiv's shutdown of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
--BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
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