EU preparing multiyear support plan for Ukraine - Michel

MOSCOW. Aug 24 (Interfax) - The European Union is preparing a multiyear plan of financial support for Ukraine worth more than 50 billion euros, European Council President Charles Michel told the Kiev-organized Crimea Platform summit on Wednesday by video link.

"In the EU we continue to support the efforts of the United Nations and Turkey to get the Black Sea Grain Initiative back up running. And we are also strengthening our Solidarity Lanes through the EU to help get Ukrainian agricultural products to global markets," Michel said.

In 2022, "Ukraine received EU candidate status. So your European Union future is no longer a question of if, it is a question of when. And later this year, the European Council will discuss the possibility of opening accession negotiations," he said.

"We are supporting you [...], and we will strengthen this support. We are also helping to meet your humanitarian needs," Michel said.