FILE PHOTO: European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell attends a press conference with Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom (not pictured) on the day of an EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in connection to an informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Marsta outside Stockholm, Sweden May 13, 2023. Christine Olsson/TT News Agency/via REUTERS
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has proposed adding 3.5 billion euros ($3.85 billion) to a fund used to finance military aid for Ukraine, EU sources said on Wednesday.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Borrell had asked EU governments to provide more cash for the European Peace Facility (EPF), a fund that has already allocated some 4.6 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine.
The fund, established in 2021, was conceived as a way for the EU to help developing countries buy military equipment. But the 27-member union quickly decided to use it to get weapons to Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February last year.
The fund is separate from the EU's budget, which is not allowed to finance military operations.
The war has meant that the EPF has burned through cash far more quickly than originally planned.
The fund allows EU countries that supply weapons and ammunition to Ukraine to claim back a portion of the cost.
A senior EU official said Borrell had decided to ask for more money as the fund was running low and the EU's foreign policy service wanted to be sure it had enough cash to finance military aid for other countries as well as Ukraine.
"We have to top up," said the official. "The gist of the European Peace Facility ... has a universal character. It was not conceived by Ukraine. It was conceived for any conflict that the European Union could deal with."
($1 = 0.9084 euros)
(Reporting by Andrew Gray; editing by Grant McCool)
