Borrell: Ukraine needs 'practical' help more than EU membership

STORY: "We have to provide an answer for the coming hours, not for the coming years, the coming hours," he told journalists shortly before a virtual meeting with EU defence ministers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday asked the European Union to allow Ukraine to gain membership under a special procedure and on Sunday EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was in favour of Ukraine joining.

Borrell said defence ministers at the meeting would discuss plans to jointly finance deliveries of weapons worth 500 million euros to Ukraine, and these will include a range of defensive arms to repel Russian forces.