To help Ukraine in repelling Russian invasion, the EU is planning a €500 million weapons and aid package.
Following an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on Sunday night, the amount was revealed.
The European Union's (EU) leaders will vote on a lethal arms package to aid Ukraine's defence against a Russian invasion that is still ongoing.
During an informal video conference of foreign affairs ministers on Sunday night, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell announced that the European Council supports a decision to send Ukraine deadly aid.
"We want to help Ukraine in every way we can." "We've decided to use our capacities to offer arms, lethal arms, and lethal assistance to [the] Ukrainian army," Borell said, adding that the 450 million euro (about $500 million) support package under discussion includes fighters, arms, and fighter jets.
Following Germany's historic decision to deliver 1,000 anti-tank weaponry and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft defence systems to Ukraine, the EU has decided to support lethal assistance to Ukraine.
Borell added that the support package will include 50 million euros worth of non-lethal supplies, gasoline, and protective equipment. He went on to say that, while no political choices can be made in an informal meeting, the written procedure will be followed.
After Russia started a full-fledged military invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday, European officials worked over the weekend to approve sanctions against the country. The European Union said on Saturday that some Russian banks will be barred from using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a messaging network that connects financial institutions all over the world.
At the briefing, a Ukrainian journalist questioned why only a few Russian banks were being barred from SWIFT.
Borell said that a country like Russia is tightly linked to other economies and thus cannot be entirely cut off from the global financial system overnight.
"This level of disconnection has been precisely calibrated to cause the greatest amount of harm to Russia's financial system while maintaining the least amount of interconnection with other financial systems," Borell added.
Borell said the names and numbers of the Russian banks that would be disconnected are still being determined.
"We'll have to hold our breath for a while." It's difficult to make such decisions, and we're racing against the clock since everything must be completed by tomorrow morning," Borell explained.
Aside from the weapons package, the EU intends to prohibit a number of Russian state-owned TV networks from operating within its borders.