By Lili Bayer (OTC:BAYRY) and Andrew Gray
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy and Spain made clear on Monday they were not ready to back a European Union proposal to pledge up to 40 billion euros ($43.67 billion) in military aid for Ukraine this year, with each country contributing according to the size of its economy.
The proposal by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas could mean a doubling of EU military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invasion as the bloc and its members gave some 20 billion euros in 2024.
EU officials say it is vital to keep backing Ukraine on the battlefield amid uncertainty over the future of U.S. support under Donald Trump’s administration, which has ended Russia’s diplomatic isolation and is pressing both sides to negotiate.
U.S. President Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about ending the war.
After a meeting on Monday of foreign ministers from the EU’s 27 countries in Brussels, Kallas said her proposal had "broad political support" and discussions were now going into details.
The proposal has strong backing from northern and eastern European countries, according to diplomats.
But some southern European capitals have been more reticent, reflecting a division between those geographically closer to Russia that have given more aid to Ukraine and those further away that have given less, as a share of their economies.
Estonia, Denmark and Lithuania lead the field in Europe, having given more than 2% of their GDP in aid to Kyiv between January 2022 and December 2024, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy think tank.
Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus are among those to have given the least, having provided less than 0.5% of their GDP.
Hungary, which has the EU’s most Russia-friendly government, is bottom of the EU table.
WAITING FOR TRUMP AND PUTIN
Speaking before the meeting, ministers from Italy and Spain - the EU’s third and fourth biggest economies - said it was too early to take a definitive position on the proposal. France has also raised questions about the plan, diplomats say.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the proposal would have to be discussed in depth and in the light of forthcoming developments.
"We are waiting for the Trump-Putin telephone call to see if there will be any steps forward in order to reach a ceasefire," he said, adding that Italy also had to find money to boost its own defence spending.
"There is a lot of expenditure to be tackled," he said.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said: "We’ll see how the debate goes, but at this point there’s no decision on it."
Albares said Spain had already committed to providing 1 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine this year. He said Madrid had not had to "wait for the High Representative (Kallas) to make any proposal" to show Kyiv could rely on its support.
During the ministers’ discussion on Ukraine, Slovakia signalled it would not obstruct the plan but also would decline to contribute, according to three EU diplomats.
Both Hungary and Slovakia do not provide military aid to Ukraine but EU officials say they should not be able to block the proposal as contributions would be voluntary.
"We will not be dragged into this, nor will we let Hungarian taxpayers’ money be used to finance arms supplies to Ukraine,"
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on X.
($1 = 0.9160 euros)