EU's von der Leyen to visit Kyiv on July 15, reportedly with defense agenda

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be in Kyiv on July 15, Ukraine's Statehood Day, the commission confirmed on July 14.

Polish news outlet TVP World reported that the European Commission is preparing a combined support package for Ukraine worth up to 18 billion euros ($21 billion), with announcements on this expected during von der Leyen's visit.

No official information has yet been provided by the commission about what von der Leyen will be doing while in Kyiv.

Of the 18 billion euros, 10 billion euros ($11 billion) would cover weapons purchased for Ukraine by EU countries through the 150 billion-euro ($171 billion) SAFE defense loans program, TVP World reports, citing a document it obtained.

On top of that, the news outlet reports 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) from existing support loans.

Ukraine has so far received 3.9 billion euros ($4.4 billion) of the EU's 5.9 billion-euro ($6.7 billion) support tranche — part of the 28.3 billion euros ($32 billion) in defense loans it is expected to receive this year.

The gap is precisely 2 billion euros, and the intended shopping list for the initial tranche centers on drones.

However, two EU officials have told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine has since submitted two further shopping lists focused on air defenses. If those have been validated, the European Commission president could be in a position to announce a larger sum.

Completing the total, TVP World reports that there is a proposal to mobilize 6.6 billion euros ($7.5 billion) from the EU's European Peace Facility (EPF).

However, funding from the EPF is not von der Leyen's money to give away. It is composed of contributions paid in directly by EU countries, which administer the fund in conjunction with the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

Moreover, that funding is currently the subject of clashes among EU countries over how much of it should be used to reimburse previously bought equipment, as originally intended, versus for new purchases.

Fueling speculation that von der Leyen is prepared to make defense-related announcements was the European Commission spokespeople's reluctance to answer questions about already announced defense-themed news, due to potential overlap with the business of the visit.

One of those topics was the July 13 announcement from several European countries, including Ukraine, to work together on Freya, a homegrown anti-ballistic missile system.

"We can't say more today. As I mentioned... our president will be in Ukraine tomorrow, and I expect you may hear more on many relevant topics at that stage," said European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill.

The news about von der Leyen's visit also follows a post by EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius celebrating Ukraine's association with two sources of defense funding, the European Defense Fund (EDF) and the European Defense Industry Program (EDIP).

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier declined to go into details on what Ukraine's association with the EDF and EDIP concretely means.

"Very little information to add for the same reasons Olof has just outlined," Regnier said.

Von der Leyen's visit will also come only a day after the EU formally launched another negotiations cluster with Ukraine — one focused on foreign policy alignment — marking another stride in Kyiv's bid to join the bloc.