At a meeting in Brussels on 20 March, EU Member States agreed an unprecedented plan to supply Ukraine with 1 million artillery rounds over 12 months – primarily ammunition for large-calibre artillery.

The Plan for Ukraine costs €2 billion: €1 billion for artillery rounds from their stockpiles and another €1 billion for joint purchases. This agreement is a step towards EU integration in a new area.

Following the EU’s refusal to import Russian gas in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European countries managed to get through the winter without any shocks, and saved €12 billion by expanding electricity production from renewable sources. These are the conclusions of a study by the Ember Climate think tank. Wind and solar power plants have also produced a record amount of electricity in the EU since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

On 8 March, an informal meeting of EU defence ministers took place in Stockholm. The central issue was the supply of weapons and military support to Ukraine.

In particular, as recently announced, the EU’s Military Assistance Mission will extend and intensify the training of Ukrainian servicemen – 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers will complete training by the end of the year.

Almost a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Eurobarometer survey shows that Europeans continue to stand side-by-side with Ukraine and support the actions of EU authorities for the country and its people. EU citizens also overwhelmingly support the acceleration of the energy transition and efforts taken to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian energy sources.

On 3 March, European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen announced that Ukraine would receive the first batch of 5,700 solar panels from the European Union to provide electricity to critical infrastructure that has suffered damage as a result of Russian missile strikes.

Furthermore, on 8 March, the European Commission allocated €180 million to purchase solar panels for Ukraine to strengthen energy stability, and support the green transformation of Ukraine as part of its recovery. In addition, Ukraine expects to join the EU Raw Materials Strategy 2030 this year.

The EU’s Public Finance Management Support Program for Ukraine (EU4PFM), the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, and the State Tax Service of Ukraine used the working group format to prepare the legislative framework in taxation and tax administration for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. Harmonisation of tax legislation is a part of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement adopted in 2014.

In total, 120 communities from the Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil, Vinnytsia and Zakarpattia regions joined the ‘Creative Dialogue Laboratories in Communities’ project implemented by the Union of Public Initiatives of Ukraine, with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

Consensus and synergy are of particular importance today, as Ukrainian communities have suffered many losses since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion, and have been forced to adjust their economic development plans due to an acute staff shortage. At the same time, many communities are hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) who must integrate into a new setting. That is why establishing dialogue and engagement in the community at all levels – from citizens to authorities – is crucial today.

Orphans and children deprived of parental care from Zaporizhzhia, Ternopil and Khmelnytsky regions now have modern laptops from the German Government. They left their homes due to the war and became IDPs. Most of them were evacuated from the occupied territories and frontline areas of the eastern regions of Ukraine. These children need to adapt to new environments, access mental health support, and study. The new laptops donated by the German Government as part of the Vocational Integration of IDPs/ EU4Skills project will therefore be highly useful for the children.