EU agrees to release €6.6 billion linked to Ukraine military aid

​European Union member countries have agreed ​a deal to release €6.6 ‌billion ($7.5 billion) in ​EU funds linked to military aid for Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ‌on Friday.

The money will come from the European Peace Facility, a fund used by EU members to finance military aid to countries outside the bloc. ‌It also refunds EU governments for military aid they have provided. Of the ‌released funds, €900 million will go to the EU's military assistance mission for Ukraine and €1 billion will fund new joint procurement of equipment, Kallas said in a post on ⁠X.

She ​added the remaining €4.7 ⁠billion will go to reimburse member states, some of whom have already said they would ⁠channel their share to Ukraine. "That’s good news for Ukraine and bad news for ​Russia," Kallas said. "Moscow’s hybrid attacks try to intimidate Europe into scaling back ⁠its support for Ukraine. Europe is doing the opposite."

Money related to Ukraine stuck in the ⁠fund ​for months, initially blocked by the previous Hungarian government, under Russia-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban. It was unclear exactly how much of the ⁠funds to be released under Friday's agreement would directly benefit Ukraine. It will be ⁠up to ⁠individual EU governments to decide how much of their refunds they allocate to fresh military aid for Kyiv.

($1 = 0.8770 ‌euros)