Some 13 member states of the European Union have written to the European Commission with a request to be more active in providing assistance to the Eastern Partnership countries, including Ukraine, to receive a vaccine against coronavirus (COVID-19).

The fact of receiving the letter was confirmed by Representative of the European Commission Ana Pisonero at a briefing in Brussels on Wednesday.

Pisonero said she can confirm that the European Commission received this letter in the morning and will answer it in due time.

She also said that the European Commission, from the very beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, has spoken about assistance, including to the "Eastern Neighbors". This has been clearly stated by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner Várhelyi. This work continues: we the commission now considering how this can be done, including (providing assistance) in cooperation with international and European financial institutions. EU vaccine strategy offers EU members the opportunity to propose part of their doses. The EU is now in the process of creating a mechanism to facilitate the donation and resale of vaccines that were previously purchased by the member states.

Pisonero said the discussion is ongoing on this issue, so it is not possible to provide more details at this stage.