EU surprised by Ukraine’s request for additional $27 billion for defence, seeks to determine how shortfall arose – NYT
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed European partners about Ukraine's additional need for $27 billion by the end of the year. Ukraine's request surprised European partners. Questions are arising in the EU regarding the efficiency of spending and the justification for new financial requests.
This is reported by The New York Times, citing European diplomats and officials, Censor.NET reports.
Budget deficit and EU concerns
It is noted that earlier this year, the European Union finally approved a loan for Ukraine amounting to over $100 billion. However, Ukraine is now facing an unexpectedly large defense budget deficit, about which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed European partners.
According to four European diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ukraine's partners did not expect such a large deficit. Some European officials privately questioned the efficiency of using the funds or suggested that Ukraine's needs might have been overstated.
European officials are currently trying to figure out where the deficit came from, how large it is, and whether and how to provide Ukraine with additional funding this year. Ukraine has also appealed to the UK, Canada, and Japan for help in covering the financial deficit.
The publication notes that Kyiv's unexpected request risks complicating Ukraine's relations with its allies exactly at a time when it critically needs their support. European leaders are forced to balance supporting Ukraine with funding domestic needs.
Moreover, as the NYT points out, the deficit is also a reminder that the cost of supporting Ukraine is rising. Ukraine suffers from relentless Russian attacks, particularly from strikes on ports, which have deprived it of a key source of revenue. In addition, Ukraine is experiencing a critical shortage of US-made interceptor missiles capable of shooting down ballistics, and is trying to ramp up the development of its own alternatives.
At the same time, as noted in the article, the source of the deficit remains "unclear and somewhat contradictory." In late August, Zelenskyy stated that part of the expenses was formed during the tenure of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who advocated significant changes in the defense industry and recently resigned.
However, Fedorov denied that such a large deficit existed during his tenure in office and stated that the current financial gap is related to the projects of the new ministry leadership.
It is noted that Ukraine has not yet released a full breakdown of its short-term budget needs. However, last month, Zelenskyy stated that it involves the procurement of weapons, payments to military personnel and families of fallen defenders.
The head of the parliamentary budget committee, Roksolana Pidlasa, reported that a shortfall of about $7.5 billion was expected at the beginning of the year. However, Ukraine's military spending for the first eight months of 2026 increased by more than 17% compared to the same period last year, she notes.
"These gaps arise because the war is getting more expensive every year. We have to take into account the fact that Russian tactics are changing, and this worsens Ukraine's situation," Pidlasa said.
She added that the intensification of Russian attacks on Ukrainian industry, in particular on metallurgical plants and the grain export corridor, deprived Ukraine of about half of its expected revenues last month alone.
Search for ways to cover the deficit
Although Ukraine's financial deficit came as a surprise to most EU countries, Brussels is currently looking for ways to cover it, the NYT writes.
After the meeting between European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis and Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi, European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari stated that Brussels first needs to "get a clear picture of what the financial situation" of Ukraine is.
Accelerating loan disbursement
One of the options proposed by Ukraine is to accelerate the disbursement of funds under the EU loan. It is noted that the European loan of over $100 billion is designed to be disbursed over two years: half in 2026, and the other half in 2027.
Eight European diplomats and officials agreed that accelerating the disbursement could be a viable option to quickly provide Ukraine with additional funds. Some of them note that such a plan is gaining more and more support.
Using Russian assets
Furthermore, Ukraine insists on the use of frozen Russian assets.
The Euroclear financial depository in Brussels holds over $200 billion in frozen Russian assets. Last month, European countries already considered the possibility of using these funds to back the loan to Ukraine, but this plan failed due to opposition from Belgium and other countries.
