EU gives £400m in aid for Ukraine

EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn said the loan is “a further concrete sign of European solidarity”.

The money from the 28-nation bloc is part of a wider EU package aimed at helping Ukraine reform its economy to boost growth and jobs.

The EU sent Ukraine E100m (£80m) last month and has another E1bn (£800m) lined up, provided Ukraine meets agreed milestones on economic and financial reforms.

The EU and Ukraine are set to sign a wide-ranging free trade agreement next week.

In total, the EU has pledged assistance worth £8.8bn for Ukraine over the coming years.

The EU’s support comes as Russia has circulated a new UN resolution on Ukraine in a fresh effort to make the world body’s deeply-divided Security Council to address the escalating conflict in the east between the government and separatist fighters.

Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the new resolution included parts of two earlier resolutions it circulated this month which called for humanitarian aid, a ceasefire, and a national dialogue in Ukraine.

It also included several issues raised by council members including a reference to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, he said.

But Russia is likely to face an uphill struggle because of widespread opposition to its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March and the way Russia has supported pro-Russian militias in the east.