The European Union will allocate to Kiev 1.5 billion euros per month in 2023, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said after the summit of EU leaders, reports Reuters.
She said the EU has already allocated 19 billion euros to Ukraine this year.
"It is very important for Ukraine to have a predictable and stable flow of income," she said, adding that Kiev estimates its monthly needs at 3 to 4 billion euros for the essentials.
Von der Leyen said the EU would fund 1.5 billion euros a month from that amount, with the rest expected to come from the United States and international organizations. This will give a total of 18 billion for next year, an amount that Ukraine can count on and with a stable and reliable, predictable revenue stream, she said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed EU leaders via video link the day before, saying that Russian missiles and Iranian drones have damaged a third of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Von der Leyen said the EU is also considering how to help Ukraine restore water and electricity supplies.
Zelenskyy asked the EU for air and missile defense systems as well as powerful new sanctions against Russia as well as Iran for allegedly supplying drones.
The EU has already imposed limited sanctions against Iran in this regard, but now EU member states are divided on imposing new sanctions against Russia.
Poland and three Baltic states proposed to ban imports of Russian diamonds from Russia and stop trade in steel, but Belgium and Italy are against these steps.
Hungary is against imposing sanctions against Russia at all, while Germany and France said the current measures are already far-reaching.
Summit chairman Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said the EU is considering using Russian assets frozen as a result of sanctions against Moscow to rebuild Ukraine.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the amount is about 300 billion euros, although Berlin and other countries have warned that the actual seizure of assets could be illegal.