Unlike previous European assistance packages, this one is heavily weighted toward military spending, meant to put Ukraine on solid footing for a long fight.

The European Union on Thursday approved a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan package to help Ukraine meet its economic and military needs for two years after oil began flowing through a key pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia,

Europe must have its own defense system against ballistic weapons, and Ukraine is already holding talks with several countries on its creation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr

European Union envoys gathered on Wednesday with most cautiously optimistic that a massive loan to help meet Ukraine’s military and financial needs for the next two years is close to being approved after months of deadlock.

Ukraine has completed the work needed to open the negotiation clusters in record time Ukraine and Moldova have demonstrated significant progress in implementing key reforms despite the difficult conditions both countries are facing.

Ukraine will receive the first tranche of €6 billion from the military component of the European Union's €90 billion loan no later than June.

Europe should fund Ukraine’s reconstruction by taxing Russian imports, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said. The bill to repair Ukraine’s devastated infrastructure and bombed-out cities runs into the hundreds of billions of euros,

European Union leaders at a summit in Cyprus agreed that the first negotiations for Ukraine to join the bloc could start in the coming weeks and months, Bloomberg News reported, citing an EU official.