Brussels says Ukraine made 'no official request' to get EU money sooner, despite Zelensky's public plea
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BRUSSELS, Belgium — President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the EU to speed up its payment schedule of the bloc's 90 billion euro ($105 billion) loan to Kyiv in a speech on Aug. 24, but his government had made no formal request to the European Commission along those lines, spokespeople for the EU's executive confirmed the day after.
Zelensky spoke of Ukraine's numerous and pressing financial needs, in particular to fully fund the amount of weaponry required to bring Russia to the negotiating table.
He said Ukraine faces a 23.5 billion euro ($27.4 billion) shortfall in 2026 even once EU financial support is taken into account, and asked Brussels to accelerate its payment plan to address that shortfall.
The EU's support loan, agreed in April, is central to Kyiv's financial survival, covering two-thirds of Ukraine's total projected needs until the end of 2027, both for defense spending and the wider government budget.
"To my knowledge, we have not received any official request to speed this up," European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari told journalists at an Aug. 25 press conference in Brussels.
The spokesperson went on to explain that, with the European Commission greenlighting 6.1 billion euros ($7 billion) the day before, the EU had so far allocated 22 billion euros of the 28.3 billion euros ($26 billion of the $33 billion) of the loan earmarked for Kyiv's defense needs in 2026.
"You will see in the coming weeks even more approvals, even more disbursements," Ujvari said.
"We know that there is an incredible amount of urgency, and we are speeding up our operations accordingly."
The 45 billion euro hole
Regardless of when the EU pays out the installments of its 90 billion euro ($105 billion) loan, one fact remains unchanged — Kyiv is estimated to be 45 billion euros ($53 billion) short of what it needs by the end of 2027.
The U.K agreed with the EU to support repayments around the already existing loan, but not to contribute against the projected shortfall.
The Kiel Institute, which has been tracking support provided to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, has recorded a slowdown in contributions, even as the EU significantly increased its assistance.
"Our contribution plays a major role in getting funds to Ukraine, but it is not sufficient on its own. That has to be said very clearly," Ujvari told journalists.
"It is important that other partners follow suit."
