For the first time in its history, the European Union is financing weapons and intends to spend 450 million euros on this.

The EU foreign ministers decided this in a virtual special session on Sunday evening.

"This is a crossroads," said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The EU foreign policy representative Josep Borrell spoke of a "historic moment" in which the Union showed itself to be united.

"Another taboo has fallen," he said.

It finances "the delivery of deadly equipment to the heroic Ukrainian army".

A further 50 million euros will be spent on non-lethal equipment such as hard hats, vests and fuel.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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This package is financed from a special fund alongside the regular EU budget.

The so-called European Peace Facility was created for the first time by the heads of state and government for the years 2020 to 2027.

It comprises a total of 5.7 billion euros and is technically not part of the EU budget because, according to its treaty, the EU is not allowed to finance weapons from the common budget.

According to an EU official, member states will be able to use the funds both to finance new weapons for Ukraine and to pay for those they have supplied to the country since the beginning of this year.

The money should be used for example for anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition.

Poland as a possible logistics hub

At the beginning of December, 31 million euros were released from the facility for the Ukrainian armed forces - for field hospitals, support for mobility and logistics and for cyber issues.

Armed support was still considered taboo at the time.

This turnaround was made possible not least because Germany changed its attitude towards arms deliveries.

The neutral non-NATO members of the European Union also supported the package, diplomats said.

A bridge to approval was built for them through the "non-lethal aid" in the form of protective equipment.

The EU defense ministers will meet this Tuesday to decide exactly how the funds will be used.

Poland offered itself as a logistics hub to bring the weapons to Ukraine.

Last Friday, the United Kingdom offered to provide logistical support for the transport of arms to Ukraine.

More than 25 countries pledged supplies at a donor conference, including some NATO partner countries.