In the EU, discussions are under way on a new request for aid to Ukraine — is there support?
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine has stated that it needs additional billions of euros in 2026–2027. The EU may return to discussions of frozen\r\nRussian assets.
Against the backdrop of the EU beginning to allocate 90 billion euros to support Ukraine through the end of 2027, Kyiv is already requesting additional tens of billions of euros. Europe is seeking a solution and may be forced to reopen the debate on using Russian assets frozen on the continent. Le Monde reports, UNN writes.
Details
In Brussels, Ukraine’s main donors, from the European Union (EU) to G7 members, including Norway and South Korea, met with a Ukrainian delegation on Tuesday, September 29, at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, in the presence of representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The purpose of the meeting was to assess the needs of Ukraine, which is already requesting additional assistance despite the support already allocated, the publication writes.
"In a difficult budgetary context, when public opinion is increasingly reluctant to tighten its belt to support Ukraine, Europeans know that this issue is politically sensitive. Therefore, the debate over the use of 210 billion euros in Russian funds frozen in Europe since the beginning of the war, which divided the 27 member states a year ago, will inevitably flare up again. Since August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted that his country needs more money than its international partners had planned to provide. At the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Kyiv on August 24, he surprised his interlocutors by stating that he was facing a budget deficit of 27 billion dollars (23 billion euros) for 2026 alone," the publication says.
"We have found ways to reduce this amount," said Serhii Marchenko, Ukraine’s finance minister, who was sent to Brussels on Monday, at a conference at the European Policy Centre think tank. However, he continued, Ukraine would need to find around 69 billion euros for 2027 (40 billion euros to cover military expenditures and 29 billion euros to ensure public services). The intensification of Russian bombardments in recent weeks has seriously damaged the country’s economy and, in particular, reduced tax revenues, Kyiv explains, the publication notes. At the same time, the blockade of grain exports through the Black Sea, which has led to a 60% decline in agricultural exports, is depriving Ukraine of valuable foreign currency, the publication points out.
These calculations, it is noted, take into account the bilateral aid promised by Kyiv’s partners, as well as the 90 billion euros that the 27 EU member states planned to borrow jointly, intended to cover Ukraine’s financial needs in 2026 and 2027 – 30 billion euros annually allocated for the country’s armaments, and 15 billion euros for its budget.
By mid-September, Brussels had already allocated 15 billion euros to finance the purchase of military equipment. "Since February 2022, the EU and its member states have provided nearly 225 billion euros in assistance to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people," EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos reminded donors on Tuesday, although the Americans have not given Kyiv a single dollar since Donald Trump returned to the White House in early 2025.
"It feels as though we are watering a desert," a European diplomat remarked "irritably," the publication writes.
Despite Ukraine’s difficult situation, this new request for additional assistance is difficult to accept in Brussels, especially given the politically sensitive timing. The 27 EU member states are engaged in broad negotiations on the next multiannual budget, which includes allocating 100 billion euros to Ukraine for the 2028–2034 period. However, given that Germany and its "frugal" allies are seeking to cut this budget by several hundred billion euros, an announcement of new aid to Kyiv appears unlikely
In addition, a series of crucial elections is scheduled for 2027 in the bloc’s countries – France, Spain, Poland, and Italy – where the issue of financing Ukraine is particularly sensitive, the publication notes. In France, Marine Le Pen, the candidate of the National Rally and the frontrunner in the polls, has already announced her intention to end all financial assistance to Kyiv if elected.
"For now, Brussels is dragging its feet," the publication writes.
We are awaiting details of the needs and will see how we can meet them. The discussion is expected at the meeting of finance ministers on October 9, or even at the European Council in mid-October
Against this backdrop, several of his colleagues note that the Ukrainian state has not yet used the €15 billion allocated to support living standards.
The disbursement of this amount, the publication notes, "depends on a series of reforms that Ukraine must carry out, in particular to combat corruption." "Our message to our Ukrainian friends is clear: implement the agreed reforms so that we can continue providing you with our financial support," insists Marta Kos.
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"The Council is due to meet again in mid-October, and I hope it will make progress on the reforms that are being requested," said Serhii Marchenko. - However, some EU requirements concern the introduction of new taxes. Now is not the time to raise taxes for our businesses, which are already suffering greatly".
Before launching any new initiatives, the European Commission proposes using all the funding levers available to the Union, the publication writes. In mid-September, its president, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed using the remaining funds from the €150 billion loan that the EU executive had taken out to finance the rearmament of Europe, with each country benefiting from it being required to repay the amount used. At present, approximately €20 billion remains undistributed and could therefore be used to finance the purchase of drones and other interceptors for Ukraine, the publication writes. However, this would require the member states to agree to cover the costs. Under current circumstances, this is unthinkable in Berlin or Paris, the publication notes.
In the near term, the European Peace Facility (EPF), to which €6.6 billion has been allocated, could be used in part to assist Kyiv. This possibility, long blocked by Hungary's veto, re-emerged after Viktor Orbán's defeat in the April elections. Europeans could also accelerate the disbursement of funds planned for 2027 under the €90 billion loan, but this would merely postpone resolving the problem, the publication notes.
There remain €210 billion in Russian state assets frozen in Europe, €180 billion of which is held by Euroclear in Belgium, which Kyiv has been urging the EU for months to confiscate, the publication writes. Germany, which opposes any new joint European borrowing, had already tried to promote this solution in 2025 with the support, among others, of Sweden and the Netherlands. Unfortunately, Belgium resisted it with all its might, forcing Chancellor Friedrich Merz to approve a new joint loan of €90 billion.
Today, Berlin and its allies have returned to this issue, but Belgium does not appear ready to change its position, while the European Commission has not yet found a way to protect the kingdom from lawsuits. Given the situation in Ukraine, says Fabian Zuleg, director of the European Policy Centre, "even if we used the frozen Russian funds, it would be a temporary solution. Europe needs to think about a long-term and permanent solution," since the financial needs, whether during or after the war, for rebuilding the country will be enormous.
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