EU begins search for additional funding for Ukraine for 2027
The European Council has instructed the European Commission to prepare proposals to cover Ukraine's budget deficit for 2027 in the amount of 70 billion euros. This was stated by the President of the European Council António Costa at the conclusion of the European Council meeting on Friday, October 16, according to Європейська правда.
The European Commission must prepare proposals on where the European Union can find money to cover the deficit in Ukraine's budgetary needs in 2027, which was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"We agreed that the issue of Ukraine's additional financing needs for 2027 must be addressed. And we asked the European Commission to present a concrete proposal for discussion and approval," – Costa stated.
He did not provide further details on the financing plans for Ukraine next year.
"European Pravda" spoke with a high-ranking EU official familiar with the course of discussions among EU leaders on financing Ukraine during the October 16 summit, which preceded the aforementioned instruction, and learned the details.
According to him, the proposal is currently at an early stage of development – so it is not yet determined when exactly it will be prepared.
"It is not yet time to talk about any dates or deadlines. Our colleagues in the European Commission need to wake up, learn the news, and realize what they have to do next," – stated the interlocutor of "European Pravda".
He noted that it is not necessarily required that this proposal be approved by the end of the year.
The logic is that the search for additional funds can continue until the entire 90 billion euro loan is exhausted (i.e., its 45 billion euro portion intended for 2027).
To a clarifying question from "European Pravda" about whether the future European Commission proposal might contain a recommendation to use frozen Russian assets in the EU for financing Ukraine, the interlocutor replied that there is no answer to this question yet.
As reported by "European Pravda", the European Commission acknowledged that Ukraine's budget for 2027 indeed lacks 70 billion euros, which should be provided by international partners.
At the same time, "European Pravda" sources in the EU explained that Ukraine's stated need for international funding of 70 billion euros arose in addition to the funds provided for 2027 by the EU loan totaling 90 billion euros.
The said decision was the European Council's response to a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the leaders of EU member states on October 16 that Ukraine needs at least 70 billion euros in additional financial assistance from international partners in 2027.
Recall that representatives of the European Union and Ukraine, during a joint meeting on October 1, concluded that Ukraine currently does not need additional international financing in 2026.