With just a few days to go until next Thursday’s EU leaders’ summit, it is still unclear whether the 26 heads of state and government can convince the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban to agree to long-term financial aid for Ukraine.

Orban blocked a proposed 50 billion euro package for Kiev late last year, prompting leaders to schedule a February 1 gathering in the hope of reaching a compromise. The package, a mix of grants and loans, would be a lifeline for the economy of Ukraine. But while Budapest insists it has proposed a compromise, the sides have yet to reach an agreement as Hungary appears to want a deal that would allow it to block continued aid to Kiev in the future.

According to the draft final communique, European Union leaders will reiterate their determination to continue providing “timely, regular and sustained military assistance” to Ukraine at Thursday’s European summit.

“The European Council reiterates that there is an urgent need to speed up the delivery of ammunition and missiles,” the text also reads.

The plan of the final announcement leaves open the question of granting another package of 5 billion euros to the European Peace Facility fund, which is used to finance the supply of arms to Kiev.

The paragraph concerning the 5 billion package is in the text in square brackets, which means that the matter is under negotiation.

A senior European diplomat told the Guardian website on Tuesday morning that member states are united when it comes to opposing Budapest’s demands.

“I hope so, although as usual he will try to extract as many concessions as possible. This time, however, I hope he doesn’t have much to gain – member states are quite united against Hungary’s absurd four demands – and at the same time signals are being sent about possible consequences for Hungary’s continued obstructionist behaviour.”

At the same time, in an interview with Le Point, published this morning, Hungarian Viktor Orbán reiterated the position he had expressed in recent days: that it is now open to provide aid to Ukraine from the EU budget, as long as it is taken unanimously decision each year to allow aid to continue – effectively giving Budapest a veto.

“We decided to make a compromise proposal: OK, we don’t agree with the budget amendment. We do not agree that we should give 50 billion euros [στην Ουκρανία], which is a huge amount. We do not agree to give it for four years and so on.

But be that as it may, Hungary is ready to participate in the twenty-seven solution if we are guaranteed that every year we will decide whether to continue sending this money or not.

And this annual decision must have the same legal basis as today’s: it must be unanimous. Unfortunately, this position is understood or interpreted by some countries as a means to blackmail them every year,” Orban said.