6.0b euros collected at Ukraine donors' conference

FE Team | Published: May 05, 2022 23:22:47

WARSAW, May 5 (Agencies): More than six billion euros ($6.3 billion) were collected at a Ukraine donors' conference in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday.
At "this conference, we were able to gather more than six billion euros and this money will be distributed to support Ukraine and all those who support Ukraine," Morawiecki told a news conference.
"When Russia brings death, the countries of the free world have to bring aid and I think this conference here in Warsaw showed an enormous amount of solidarity amongst all of us."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke via video link at the conference organised by Poland and Sweden with EU participation.
He called on the bloc to grant it EU candidate status "right now".
"Ukraine's membership in the European Union must be an absolute reality, not just promises or prospects, but practical steps," he said.
He also called on partner countries to take part in a patronage project in
Earlier report adds: The European Union's executive on Wednesday proposed the toughest package of sanctions yet against Moscow for its war in Ukraine, but several countries worried about the impact of cutting off Russia oil imports stood in the way of agreement.
The new punishments, announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, included sanctions on Russia's top bank and a ban on Russian broadcasters from European airwaves, as well as the embargo on crude oil in six months.
The EU faces the task of finding alternatives when energy prices have surged as it imports some 3.5 million barrels of Russian oil and oil products every day and also depends on Moscow's gas supplies.
A handful of eastern EU countries are concerned that the halt would not allow them enough time to adapt, even though diplomats said Hungary and Slovakia would be given until the end of 2023.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook that, even with the lag, Hungary could only agree to the measures if crude oil imports from Russia via pipeline were exempt from the sanctions.