South Korea intends to transfer $2.3 billion to Ukraine as part of medium- and long-term assistance. This was stated by the country's Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul.
“Seoul plans to provide Ukraine with a medium- to long-term aid package of $2.3 starting this year and offer $12 million for the rehabilitation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers through the NATO Trust Fund for Assistance to Ukraine,” the agency reports. Yonhap.
The minister also stressed that South Korea will continue to strengthen its partnership with NATO. According to him, members of the alliance see the importance of cooperation with countries in the Indo-Pacific region to effectively counter transnational security threats.
In addition, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba said during yesterday's NATO meeting in Brussels that Seoul should send lethal weapons to Kyiv. Journalists recalled that last month the diplomat requested Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems from South Korea.
“There will be no changes to the existing policy of refusing to support lethal weapons to Ukraine,” the South Korean Foreign Ministry responded, according to the statement. material agencies.
Earlier, on April 3, Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins announced NATO's plans to create a $100 billion fund to supply weapons to Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg then announced the need to make the alliance's military supplies to Kyiv mandatory and not voluntary. He confirmed that the bloc intends to play an important role in coordinating and planning military assistance to Ukraine.
The next day, Bloomberg reported that NATO had doubts about the possibility of creating a fund for Ukraine. According to the publication’s sources, some countries are of the opinion that it is better to promise a smaller amount, but one that the allies “are more likely to be able to afford.”
Before this, on March 27, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said that the West does not understand the volume of military support the country requires. According to him, the Ukrainian partner has certain problems with mathematics or school studies. He stressed that he does not understand the process by which the amount of assistance allocated to Ukraine is determined.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Kyiv against the backdrop of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. However, recently in the West there have been increasingly frequent statements about the need to reduce support for Ukraine.
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