Andrzej Sados urged EU to accelerate talks on budgetary increase for the EPF
Stephane Lecocq/PAP/EPA

Poland has called on the European Union to increase the budget of the European Peace Facility (EPF) by EUR 20 billion in order to maintain support for the Ukrainian army, PAP has learned from a source.

A meeting of EU ambassadors was held in Brussels on Friday with the participation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“At the meeting, Poland appealed for a budget increase of the European Peace Facility by EUR 20 billion to maintain assistance for the Ukrainian army and reported on the training of almost 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers,” the source told PAP. “Von der Leyen replied that the training was Poland’s success.”

PAP has learnt that Poland’s ambassador to the EU, Andrzej Sados, also argued that the bloc must soon start work on a further round of sanctions against Russia and Belarus over the war in Ukraine. He reportedly said that discussion should be accelerated on a proposal by the bloc’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, concerning a EUR 20-billion budgetary increase for the EPF.

Furthermore, he said, the European Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM) should have sufficient resources to continue training Ukrainian troops, including in advanced technology.

Poland is the biggest single beneficiary of the EPF, from which it funds the training of Ukrainian fighters.