Zelensky is demanding a further 70 billion euros from the EU

EU summit

Zelensky is demanding a further 70 billion euros from the EU

The EU has already approved 90 billion euros for Ukraine for 2026 and 2027. But the money is not enough. The Ukrainian president mentions the size of the financial gap at the EU summit.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is demanding a further 70 billion euros from its allies in the European Union for the coming year in order to be able to defend itself against the Russian attackers. He needed the money “for defense, for weapons and for our resilience,” he said at the EU summit in a speech to the heads of state and government, which he then published on the X platform. The war will be the Ukraine next year will cost a total of 155 billion euros.

Merz had already called for an increase in funding for Ukraine at the beginning of the summit, but did not mention the magnitude. At his final press conference, he said there was great agreement in the EU to continue to help Ukraine over the winter and next year. The financial requirements are now being examined by the EU Commission and will then be discussed again in November or December.

Last year, the EU granted Ukraine 90 billion euros for the years 2026 and 2027, which is now not enough. “We know that we cannot get by with this money, that Ukraine cannot get by with this money,” admitted Merz.

The Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko had already highlighted Ukraine’s additional financial needs in September during a visit to Brussels explained. His country’s regular budget was missing 32.6 billion for next year US dollars (29.1 billion euros). He put the gap in defense spending at $45 billion (around 40.1 billion euros.

With Zelensky’s announcement to the heads of state and government, this demand is now virtually official. It remains to be seen whether the EU Commission will go along with this scope. When it comes to financing, Russian assets frozen in the European Union could come into play again – around 210 billion euros.

Meanwhile, at the summit, the EU tried to defuse the dramatically escalated tensions between the US President Donald Trump and Zelensky. They refrained from direct public criticism and accusations against Trump. President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen Instead, he emphasized once again that the European Union had supported Trump’s push for an energy ceasefire.

This provided for that Russia and Ukraine will mutually refrain from attacking power plants, refineries and other energy infrastructure for the time being. Von der Leyen went on to say that it was Russia that did not observe the ceasefire for a single minute. Instead, the country even escalated further.

Zelensky made it clear that the conversation channels Washington remain open. His team is in constant contact with the American negotiators, he said after consultations with the Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the other heads of state and government of the EU states. He expects another meeting to be arranged “in the coming days.”

Trump, on the other hand, upped the ante in his argument with Zelensky and portrayed him as an obstacle to a peace agreement with Russia. If there were to be an agreement, then only without Zelensky, he said in an interview with the ultra-conservative US broadcaster Newsmax. This is “not a good man” for them USA to negotiate.