Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has accused the European Union (EU) of deliberately withholding aid that it had promised his country. An €8 billion ($8.18 billion) in aid promised to Ukraine by Brussels amid the conflict with Russia, has been on hold for sometime now.
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Withholding €8 billion in financial aid is either “a crime or a mistake” by Brussels, the Ukrainian leader says, according to a news report by Russia Today early in the day.
“Every day and in different ways, I remind some EU leaders that Ukrainian pensioners, our displaced persons, our teachers and other people, who depend on payments from the budget shouldn’t be hostages of their indecision or bureaucracy,” Zelensky said in a video address on Telegram on Thursday.
The EU has suspended the allocation of €8 billion, and this “artificial delay in macro-financial aid for our country is either a crime or a mistake,” he insisted.
The president however did not name the nations responsible for withholding the money, but expressed hope that it’s only a mistake “and it will be corrected.”
Earlier this week, the deputy head of Zelensky’s office, Igor Zhovkva, said that Ukraine has so far received just €1 billion from Brussels, while “some EU countries, including Germany” are blocking the transfer of another €8 billion.
With Kiev unable to patch the holes in its budget due to the fighting and the dire economic situation, the EU promised in May to provide Ukraine with €9 billion in subsidies and low-interest loans by the end of 2022.
Zelensky’s criticism of Ukraine’s Western allies is not new, in March, he demanded that the United States and its allies send more weapons and ratchet up sanctions, portraying some leaders as timid in the face of Russian aggression.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
