European Union leaders are heading to a high-stakes summit today, which they have convened with a single goal: to convince Hungary's Viktor Orban to drop his veto of much-needed financial aid to Ukraine. This was reported by Bloomberg.


It is argued that failure on this matter could seriously hit Kyiv and increase doubts about the support of its allies, especially given the suspension of US aid in Congress.


The EU is offering Budapest a new mechanism to monitor the €50 billion aid package to Ukraine, eliminating the possibility of an annual veto, which the Hungarian prime minister has demanded be added to this instrument to verify expenditures.


It will all depend on Orban himself, who has angered his EU colleagues by blocking one of the central points of the European security strategy aimed at containing Russian President Vladimir Putin.


Hungary, whose access to substantial EU funding has been blocked over concerns about the rule of law, has also been slow to provide military support to Kyiv.


Anxiety levels are high in many capitals as Putin's expansionist ambitions toward the West have made Ukraine's military effort an existential issue, said one senior EU official.


"If Ukraine fails and Russia feels supported, it will try to attack other countries," European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis warned in Washington. "It would simply mean a much bigger war with NATO."