Kallas presents a plan to raise 40 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine

The high representative of the European diplomacy Kaja Kallas presented an ambitious plan to mobilize up to 40 billion euros for a new military support for Ukraine, which, which will be carried out, will represent twice the defense aid that the European Union provided last year.

The plan, already nicknamed “Kallas initiative” in Brussels, seeks to satisfy Ukraine priority needs to combat the war of aggression of Russia, with special emphasis on artillery ammunition, air defense systems, missiles, drones and combat planes.

The non -lethal provisions, such as the training and team of the Ukrainian Brigades, will also be taken into account to guarantee the participation of the neutral member states.

Donations can be made through direct hardware deliveries or financial contributions, ideally designed to promote purchases of the Ukrainian defense industry, which has expanded at a rapid pace in the last three years.

According to the latest version of the document, dated March 13 and consulted by Euronews, the value of the initiative is expected to be “at least 20 billion euros” and “potentially” that reaches 40 billion euros. A previous version did not have a clear economic value.

The writing of the plan is remarkable.

It speaks of “participants” countries, which implies a change towards a coalition of interested parties that can, or not, correspond to the 27 Member States.

Hungary has become a declared critic of military assistance to Ukraine, even blocking the joint conclusions of a Special Summit last week. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has described this assistance as a “pro-war” agenda that goes against Donald Trump’s goal to achieve an agreement between the belligerent parties. (Orbán refused to say if Vladimir Putin has an agenda in favor of the war or the person’s favor).

For almost two years, Hungary has maintained a veto of 6,600 million euros of the European Peace Funds (EPF), which intends to partially reimburse the Member States the weapons and ammunition that they send to Ukraine. Proven diplomats Several paths To avoid Budapest and unlock the FEP, but nothing resulted in date.

Kallas seems to want to avoid the same error and is presenting its new initiative as a voluntary scheme that can avoid the negative vote of Hungary. Slovakia, another firm critic of military assistance to kyiv, can also constitute an obstacle.

The last project says that “the participating states” are encouraged to present new contributions, a language that does not reach the mandatory. The commitments must communicate to Brussels before April 30.

In addition, Kallas is opening the coalition to countries that do not belong to the block, such as the United Kingdom and Norway, which became closely involved in the ongoing discussions on security guarantees for Ukraine. Earlier this month, Norway increase Its commitment to 2025 to 50 billion Norwegian crowns, equivalent to 8.19 billion euros.

“The Kallas initiative is open to third countries,” confirmed a high EU EU employee on Friday. “The more countries participate, the better it will be to meet the needs of Ukraine to be in a solid position on the trajectory that is avoided.”

Resolution problems

The Kallas Plan has been debated for several weeks in Brussels.

It must be discussed again on Monday during a meeting of Ministers of Foreigners, and again on Thursday, during a Summit of EU leaders. The need to reinforce Ukraine’s support has pressed in response to the Trump administration to Moscow and an increasingly critical rhetoric against European allies.

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The high representative wants to receive the political support of the Member States before converting its three -page document into a more detailed project.

“First a political will and then the rest will continue,” said the senior official.

However, an agreement is not expected to reach any of the two meetings, due to a series of unresolved technical and political problems.

Kallas proposed that a “part” of the military contribution be made “according to” with the “economic weight” of each country, using the gross national performance (RNB) as the main indicator to ensure that the largest countries provide the greatest donations.

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France, for example, will have resisted this formula, since it would require the country to commit to high value throughout the year, just behind Germany. According to him Institute how For the world economy, France is under Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, much smaller countries when it comes to military support.

It is said that Paris prefers to base its provisions on its financial cycles and the variable needs of Ukraine in the field. But for other governments, RNB is the most appropriate indicator, since it guarantees a fair and proportional distribution of charges.

“We are very favorable for the plan, including RNB,” said a high -level diplomat, on condition of anonymity. “Let’s see if the other Member States accept it.”

“The plan is trying to track a new path, but there must be a lot of discussion” before a final agreement, added the diplomat.

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Another problem that capitals want to clarify is accounting: how promises made in recent months will be considered in the collective value. (The last project talks about the support “provided in kind since February 24, 2025”, the third anniversary of the war).

The accounting process can incorporate the value of security guarantees provided to Ukraine. The accounting process can incorporate the value of security guarantees provided to Ukraine, which could benefit France, such as President Emmanuel Macron fixed who would be willing to put boots on the ground to safeguard a possible agreement with Russia.

Countries are also pressing to obtain answers on how the Kallas initiative will integrate the 18 billion euros that the EU will provide to kyiv as part of a extraordinary loan Supported by the unexpected profits of the frozen assets of Russia. The European Commission, which conceived the loan, promised “the maximum flexibility” to allow Ukraine to use the very remarkable liquidity injection to acquire advanced weapons and ammunition.

There is an additional question about the effectiveness of the plan in practice if, from the beginning, it is constructed as a voluntary scheme without a solid legal basis.

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“It is done voluntarily to move through Hungary,” said a diplomat from another country. “We hope that other countries are effort and their money is worth it.”

“It is a politically binding agreement, so we hope everyone will fulfill it.”