LOC23:44
20:44 GMT
BRUSSELS, May 17 (KUNA) -- European Union ministers of defense discussed Tuesday the ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine with the participation of the NATO Deputy Secretary-General, Mircea Geoana, and the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov.
Reznikov informed the ministerial meeting of the situation on the ground and the needs of the Ukrainian army that the EU continue to support, said an EU statement released after the meeting in Brussels.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell stressed that the EU support is making a difference in the battlefield, and that the EU needs to sustain the effort, and replenish Ukrainian resources and stockpiles.
He also announced that an additional tranche of 500 million euro (USD 527 million) under the European Peace Facility will soon bring to 2 billion euro (USD 2.1 billion) the EU's total military support to the Ukrainian armed forces since the start of Russia's invasion.
The EU Advisory Mission to Ukraine will start its redeployment in Kiev, and will support border management and investigation and prosecution of war crimes, it noted. (end)
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