Paris, 7 March 2022 (MIA) - Europe could see the entry of five million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country if the assault continues, says Josep Borrell, European Union foreign policy chief. “If the indiscriminate bombardments of cities continues, we can expect five million exiles,” Borrell says after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Mediterranean city of Montpellier. According to UN data, more than 1,7 million people have already fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. The organization has warned that four million people would want to leave Ukraine if the war continued. \Borrell stressed that the European Union should prepare to take in five million refugees all the while urging the bloc to make utmost financial efforts to deal with the situation, MIA’s Paris correspondent reports. On March 1, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged that at least EUR 500 million will be singled out from the EU budget for humanitarian aid in the wake of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The first tranche of EUR 100 million has been already released for Ukraine and Moldova. Meanwhile, Marija Pejčinović Burić, Council of Europe Secretary General, called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. “I urge an agreement on viable humanitarian corridors which are essential to allow the safe passage of thousands of displaced persons fleeing death and destruction - most of them women and children,” she tweeted.