EU foreign ministers meet in Kyiv for first time in significant meeting

The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell and EU foreign affairs ministers met with their Ukrainian counterpart on Monday for a significant meeting.

The meeting’s significance comes from the fact that contrary to how these meetings normally take place, where Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister, Dmytro Kuleba meets his counterparts in Brussels, the EU is making an effort to show its solidarity with the war-torn state being touted for accession.

The EU-Ukraine negotiations on Monday are anticipated to produce concrete outcomes. Kuleba specifically brought up the European Peace Facility, a fund used to pay for arms donations to Ukraine that currently requires topping up as Ukraine is holding off Russia’s large-scale invasion.

Hungary has been delaying payment of the subsequent €500 million funding for several months, however, the Ukranian government stated that an agreement had been struck.

Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister also emphasised the importance of the EU's recent act to enhance ammunition manufacturing, which aims to increase the bloc's capacity to provide ammunition in order to match Russia's military supplies. 

Kuleba stated that Ukraine wants to discuss fresh sanctions against Russia in order to hinder its war machine’s output.

Malta's foreign affairs minister Ian Borg is also present during this historic meeting.