Russia says EU aid to Ukraine will harm Europe's economy: ‘Won’t change…'

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that any fresh European Union aid to Ukraine would not affect the outcome of the conflict there and that such spending would only hurt Europe's economy.P)..

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the EU was preparing a back-up plan of funding worth up to 20 billion euros ($22.10 billion) for Kyiv..

"Both Europeans and Americans are already well aware of the level of corruption (in Ukraine) and they understand that a fair portion of this money is stolen," Peskov told a regular news briefing..

The EU agreed on Dec. 14 to open membership talks with Ukraine despite the ongoing military conflict, but they could not agree on a 50 billion euro package of financial aid for Kyiv due to opposition from Hungary..

Ukraine's SBU security service and the Defence Ministry said earlier this month that they had uncovered a scheme for the fraudulent purchase of artillery shells that involved embezzlement of the equivalent of nearly $40 million..

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