Day 293: EU Breaks Hungary Stalemate, Agrees €18B In Aid For Ukraine

Facts

• EU countries on Monday confirmed they will be sending an €18B ($19B) aid package to Ukraine, and that the funds will be delivered from the European Commission budget next year. Hungary had blocked the support package — which requires approval from all 27 EU member states — due to EU concerns about corruption in Hungary. Under the new agreement, the EU will release more of those funds to Hungary if it makes progress on corruption indicators.
• The news came as US officials told Reuters that roughly $13M of power equipment has now been delivered to Ukraine, with another source telling the outlet that two more planeloads would leave from the US this week.
• Meanwhile, dozens of countries and international organizations met in Paris on Tuesday, to raise further funds and help coordinate the delivery of supplies to Ukraine as the nation continues to struggle with heat and power shortages amid the winter cold. Opening the conference, French Pres. Emmanuel Macron said Russia's attacks on civilian infrastructure were a war crime.
• Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also renewed calls to Western leaders for advanced weaponry, pressing them to provide long-range missiles, modern tanks and other hi-tech air defense systems.
• Elsewhere, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin has reportedly canceled an annual press conference for the first time in a decade. While some downplayed the announcement, others said Putin wanted to avoid criticism and awkward questions over his faltering campaign in Ukraine.
• On the ground, fighting remained heaviest in the region of Donetsk, where pro-Russia officials claimed to have surrounded the small city of Maryinka, just west of Donetsk city. Ukrainian officials said three civilians were killed and 16 were injured in Russian attacks over the last day, while pro-Russia officials said five civilians were killed in Ukrainian attacks in the same time period.
• Further Russian attacks were also recorded in Kherson, where three civilians were killed and 15 were injured, and in Zaporizhzhia, where one civilian died. One injury was recorded in Mykolaiv, while Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk were also struck without reports of civilian casualties at this stage.

Sources: Yahoo, U.S. News, Associated Press, Guardian, Tass, and Ukrinform.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNBC. Russia's deliberate targeting of energy infrastructure — unnecessarily increasing the suffering of civilians — amounts to war crimes. This continuing Russian barbarity must be confronted.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Tass. Attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are a direct consequence of the failure of the country's leadership to meaningfully engage in peace talks and thinking they can defeat Russia on the battlefield. These attacks will stop once a more sober position is reached.

Predictions