Hungary blocks $544 million payment for arms, military equipment to Ukraine

Hungary has blocked the payment of the eighth package of €500 million ($544 million) from the European Peace Fund (EPF) for weapons that EU member states are supplying to Ukraine, according to a report. The €5.6 billion ($6.08 billion) fund from the EPF is used by the bloc to finance foreign militaries and reimburse its own members who send arms to foreign conflicts. According to Russia Today, citing Italy’s ANSA news agency, the package, which was due to be allocated on 22 May, has been blocked by Budapest, supposedly demanding “guarantees” that EPF would remain “global” in its scope and would not be exclusively used to aid Ukraine. The ‘Peace Facility’ had only been utilised to send non-lethal supplies to Georgia, Mali, Moldova, Mozambique, and Ukraine for a total of less than $125 million prior to last February. Hungary blocked aid in the past too In the past, Hungary has blocked aid to Ukraine on quite a few occasions and its disapproval this time too is no surprise. Despite being a NATO member, Hungary has refused to allow the US-led bloc to send weapons to Ukraine through its territory. Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban has blamed the US and other NATO members of escalating the war “at the expense of European interests,” but his government is in favour of a Chinese diplomatic strategy to end the situation. Late last year, Hungary held up an €18 billion ($19.5 billion) tranche of economic aid for Ukraine, which the bloc would have borrowed on global markets. Orban argued that by doing so, the EU would have become “indebted” over Ukraine. He eventually relented when the bloc lifted a freeze it had placed on grant money for Hungary. In January, Hungary also blocked the release of the seventh tranche of EPF arms for Ukraine, although the package was approved several weeks later. In early February, the Council of the European Union approved the latest seventh package of military assistance to Ukraine from the fund, as well as the allocation of funds for an EU training mission for the Ukrainian military. In addition, in early May, the EU Council decided to allocate €1 billion from the European Peace Fund as part of its initiative to provide Ukraine with artillery ammunition. Zelenskyy urges speedy help Ukraine President Vladimir Zelenskyy has pleaded with the West on numerous occasions for heavier weapons and more ammunition in preparation for a much-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian soldiers. Zelensky recently visited Italy, Germany, the UK, and France and won new aid commitments from each of them, but he continues to maintain that he needs fighter jets and more powerful missiles to carry out his promise to retake the Russian provinces of Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Lugansk, and Crimea. American military officials have publicly expressed doubt that the Ukrainian military can achieve these goals, and leaked Pentagon documents suggest that Washington is bracing for the failure of Kiev’s offensive. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.