Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked EU leaders in Brussels for at least €70 billion ($79 billion) in extra funding next year. They offered solidarity, but no decision. The two-day summit ended October 16 without agreement on how to finance Ukraine’s 2027 gap or the EU’s 2028-2034 budget.
Zelenskyy told leaders that Ukraine’s war costs would reach €155 billion ($174 billion), with the money needed for defence, weapons and resilience. He said Ukraine could produce two or three times more drones, depending on the type, but lacked the cash to do so. Kyiv has also told the G7 that €40 billion ($45 billion) of its 2027 defence needs is unfunded. He asked for more Patriot missiles and urged European countries to draw on their own stocks, including air-defence systems, to cover Ukraine’s winter needs. Al Jazeera correspondent Rosie Birchard noted that using European stocks could compromise some countries’ own national security.
The Fiscal Picture
European leaders spoke firmly. European Council President Antonio Costa said: “This is no time to withdraw support to Ukraine. This is no time to relieve Russia’s sanctions. Now it is time to increase our support, to increase our pressure.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the €70 billion “has to be covered” and urged partner countries to “step in.” Leaders asked the Commission to prepare a financing proposal.
The arithmetic is harder than the speeches. The EU is already paying instalments of a €90 billion loan intended to cover Kyiv’s funding through the end of 2027. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the bloc would probably need a new loan to close the budget gap. Austria urged caution. Chancellor Christian Stocker said: “There are so many figures being bandied about that we now need to put them into context, explain them and make it clear where this shortfall is coming from.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the EU would discuss the request before year-end.
Options include another EU loan, funds from Ukraine’s non-EU allies and untapped EU funds. Debate over frozen Russian central-bank assets also returned, with France 24 reporting roughly €200 billion and POLITICO reporting €300 billion. Latvia’s Andris Kulbergs said: “The frozen assets are there. That’s what should be used for supporting Ukraine.” But most assets sit in Belgium, which remained opposed. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said “nothing has changed” and short-term support had to come from other sources.
Sovereignty Watch
Merz drew a line when Washington tried to step in. He rejected a US proposal that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner presented to European delegates in Miami, which would move some immobilised Russian central-bank reserves into a Washington-overseen vehicle. “These are assets that are frozen in Europe, and they should remain frozen in Europe. This is our business, and we will decide on it,” Merz said.
The broader budget fight shows how far apart EU capitals remain. The bloc’s long-term budget totals nearly €2 trillion and includes almost €100 billion for Ukraine. Kristersson said member states were “incredibly far apart” and that there wasn’t “even a glimpse... a shred of agreement.” Germany led a group seeking a smaller budget, while the “Friends of Cohesion” called for a larger one. French President Emmanuel Macron, who leaves office next year, warned he would lack a political mandate to sign a deal if leaders failed to reach one by year-end. An extraordinary summit on the budget is set for November 26.
Security Dimension
Pressure on Europe has grown as Washington has wobbled. The United States eased sanctions on Russian oil products as part of a deal for Russia to supply diesel to global markets. Zelenskyy said the move would put “more money straight into Putin’s pocket to fund this war.” President Donald Trump called Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries “a disgrace” and said, “I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin.”
Disruption to Starshield, the US-provided military satellite system SpaceX operates, hampered Ukraine’s ability to counter Russian bombardments. Musk said his company wasn’t responsible, and a US official denied that Trump had ordered a slowdown. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas was blunt: “Starlink is really necessary for Ukraine. And unfortunately, in short term, Europe can’t replace this capability.” Macron said Europe was working on satellite imagery and early-warning systems.
Russian strikes continued during the summit. Drones hit an outdoor market in Kharkiv on October 16, killing two vendors and injuring 13, according to IntelliNews. Strikes elsewhere left hundreds of thousands without power.
Migration and Climate Split the Room
Border policy surfaced too. Denmark, Italy and Poland proposed wording that linked irregular migration to crime rates and described it as a threat to European social cohesion. Around 10 countries, including Hungary, supported the proposal, diplomats told POLITICO. It indirectly targeted Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s plan to regularize about 1 million irregular migrants has caused clashes with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen. Leaders deleted the paragraphs, leaving a shortened version. Macron called the debate “highly politicized” and “a major source of division around the table.” Von der Leyen said the Commission would propose an emergency response framework before year-end for sudden mass movements like the one that caused disruption in Ceuta over the summer.
On climate, a push led by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to weaken the ETS2 emissions trading scheme took up hours of discussion but lost.
Why This Matters:
Europe has promised Kyiv it won’t blink, yet it can’t agree who pays. A €70 billion gap for next year, alongside a €90 billion loan still being disbursed and a budget fight with no “shred of agreement,” tests whether member-state treasuries can match their rhetoric. The frozen-assets question concerns national control: Merz’s insistence that Europe decides its own affairs is a sovereignty argument as much as a financial one. Meanwhile, the Starshield episode shows how exposed European security remains to decisions made elsewhere. Voters asked to fund more will want to know who decides, who guarantees repayment and who pays if talks with Washington keep deteriorating. A divided summit, with Macron’s mandate running out, leaves those questions unanswered into November and December.
- ukraine
- volodymyr zelenskyy
- european union
- ukraine funding
- donald trump
- russia-ukraine war
- starshield
- sanctions