The European Union intends to accelerate the disbursement of its €90 billion support loan to Ukraine as the country faces a financial crunch amid Russia’s all-out escalation and blockade in the Black Sea.
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The loan is split evenly: €45 billion for 2026, with payments underway, and €45 billion for 2027. Initially, the credit was meant to last until the end of next year, but the brutality of the war has upended the calculation.
As a result, Brussels will concentrate funds in the first half of 2027 to avoid a cut-off of assistance that could have catastrophic consequences on the ground.
The second €45 billion envelope will allocate €31.7 billion for the military and €13.3 billion for the budget, according to a strategy published on Friday by the European Commission.
The €31.7 billion will be paid out gradually as Kyiv submits new contracts for weapons. The submissions can begin this year to ensure timely deliveries in 2027.
The €13.3 billion will be conditional on reforms, some of which relate to Ukraine’s accession process. EU leaders have urged the country to keep the legislative pace on track.
A €3.7 billion payment has already been delayed.
“We are providing Ukraine with much-needed predictability and helping maintain essential public services,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
“Together with our allies, we must also do everything in our power to mount pressure on Russia to stop its barbaric war of aggression.“
Ahead of the announcement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Brussels to speed up disbursements.
“The sooner we start receiving the corresponding tranches for our drone production, air defence procurement, budget support and other vital expenditures, the better our position in 2027 will be,” he said.
In the meantime, the Commission is searching for ways to fill the €70 billion shortfall that Ukraine faces next year, which will require fresh funding on top of the existing loan.
Commission officials insist the bloc will cover no more than two-thirds of the gap, roughly €46 billion, with the remainder to be handled by other allies. Joint debt has quickly emerged as the frontrunnerto plug the hole.
An internal document seen by Euronews identifies three main reasons for the deficit.
First, the prolongation of the war, now well into its fifth year. When Brussels designed the €90 billion loan, it did so under the assumption the conflict would end sometime in 2026. The premise, which raised eyebrows last year, has now come apart.
Second, the intensification of Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure and the blockade of the Black Sea, which are “weakening economic activity and Ukraine’s capacity to raise domestic revenues”, further compounding its reliance on global donors.
Third, the decrease in assistance from non-EU allies. The document says that if all NATO allies deliver on their pledges made at the summit in July, the gap in military aid will be reduced by up to €13 billion next year.
Ukraine’s financial needs, the document adds, will be “largely determined” by the ability to resist Russia’s airstrikes, which need costly US-made Patriot interceptors.
Kyiv has accused Washington of delaying Patriots that have been paid for with European money. The impasse has been linked with US President Donald Trump’s insistence that Ukraine cease attacks on Russia’s oil refineries, claiming they raise global fuel prices.
On Friday, a Ukranian drone attack was reported at the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in Russia’s Samara region.
