{"id":564764,"date":"2026-05-03T23:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T23:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/564764\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T23:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T23:43:09","slug":"uk-to-enter-talks-to-join-78bn-eu-loan-scheme-for-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/564764\/","title":{"rendered":"UK to enter talks to join \u00a378bn EU loan scheme for Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The two leaders held talks in a hotel in Armenia&#8217;s capital Yerevan ahead of the EPC summit, to which 48 heads of state and government have been invited.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Sir Keir said the UK is &#8220;ready to do the necessary work&#8221; with allies on Monday to give Ukraine the &#8220;support you need, the pressure you need to continue to put on Russia to make sure that we get a just and lasting peace, but one that is right for Ukraine&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Downing Street said further sanctions by the UK on Russian companies are expected to be announced this week, in a bid to disrupt military supply chains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Ahead of the EPC meeting, which first convened in October 2022 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sir Keir said &#8220;we all reap the benefits&#8221; when the UK and EU work together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He added: &#8220;In these volatile times we need to go further and faster on defence to keep people safe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;That is why we are beginning negotiations with the EU to ensure Ukraine gets the equipment it needs to defend its freedom, while driving opportunities for British industry to play its full part.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">EU leaders last month <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cnv8l99r3yyo\" class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">approved the deal to lend Ukraine \u20ac90bn<\/a> over the next two years after Hungary lifted its veto, with the funding described as &#8220;a matter of life and death&#8221; by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Two-thirds of it will be spent on bolstering Ukraine&#8217;s defence needs while the rest will go on broader financial assistance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">No 10 also said Sir Keir will discuss the situation in the Middle East with European partners at the EPC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">This is expected to include how they can contribute to security in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Iran has severely limited traffic through the vital oil shipping channel in response to the bombing campaign by the US and Israel, which began in February.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Sir Keir has repeatedly outlined a desire to reset relations with Europe, including closer ties on security and the economy, but said it does not amount to a reversal of Brexit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Conservatives and Reform UK last month made clear their opposition to a government plan for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c937jkvp3w8o\" class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">legislation to allow the UK to adopt new EU laws<\/a> without Parliament having to hold a full vote each time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The two leaders held talks in a hotel in Armenia&#8217;s capital Yerevan ahead of the EPC summit, to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-564764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}