The Council of the European Union has approved a 1.2bn-euro macro-financial assistance package for Ukraine, Deutsche Welle reported.  

The package will be provided to Ukraine in the form of loans and is aimed at strengthening stability in this country in a situation of crisis, the EU Council said in a statement released in Brussels on Monday.

The assistance package is designed for 12 months and will consist of two tranches. The first of these will be transferred as soon as possible, subject to the fulfillment of political preconditions and satisfactory implementation by Ukraine of the IMF program, as well as the entry into force of the Memorandum of Understanding on Structural Measures to be agreed by Kyiv and the European Commission. The disbursement of the second tranche will be linked to the continued satisfactory implementation of the IMF program and the Memorandum of Understanding.

A major aid package for Kyiv has been approved just 21 days after the European Commission made a proposal to this effect.

French Economy, Finance and Reconstruction Minister Bruno Le Maire said that the Europeans acted quickly and decisively to help Kyiv. The provision of the package to Kyiv was announced the previous day at the Munich Security Conference by European Council President Charles Michel.