BRUSSELS — Ukraine has asked the European Union for an additional loan of $2.5 billion as it struggles to cope with the implications of its standoff with Russia.
EU Commission spokesman Simon O’Connor said Tuesday that the Ukraine request for the 2 billion euro loan will be “evaluated in consultation with the IMF and Ukrainian authorities.” However, he insisted that the EU’s executive office “remains very committed to supporting Ukraine in line with earlier commitments.”
The announcement came as negotiations between the energy chiefs from Ukraine, Russia and the EU to find a compromise to make sure that Moscow would continue to provide Kiev with gas over the winter headed into the late evening.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine counterpart Petro Poroshenko agreed on a broad thrust of a deal on Friday, the issues on how, when and how much Ukraine should pay continued to divide the sides.
This year already, the EU has agreed on an aid package of 11 billion euros ($14 billion) to boost the economy of a divided nation as it faced fighting in the east and the breakaway of its southern Crimea region to integrate with Russia.
The Russian energy company Gazprom said Friday’s tentative agreement included a promise that Kiev would pay back $3.1 billion by the end of the year. This is where further EU help could be vital.
Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in the summer over unpaid bills, raising the risks that Ukraine would siphon off gas from the pipeline passing through its territory from Russia to Europe.
Europe is concerned that if Ukraine would do that, Russia could cut off all flows through Ukraine, leaving parts of Europe without supplies in the dead of winter, as has happened in the past.
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