Ukraine and EU discuss funding needs for 2025-2026 – Defense Ministry

Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Serhiy Boyev held a meeting with Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Gediminas Navickas, during which they discussed issues of financing in the current and next years.

"For Ukraine, an important issue remains the advance planning of financing the defense industry, as well as the supply of weapons and other assistance. In order to understand what volumes of weapons production we can have at the beginning of 2026, it needs to be financed this year. There is currently a need for $6 billion," the Defense Ministry press service quoted Boyev as saying on Friday.

The parties discussed the distribution of funding for the production of FPV drones, long-range vehicles and interceptor drones. They also analyzed the need for security assistance to Ukraine for 2026.

Boyev discussed with Navickas further steps within the framework of the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, which should facilitate the full integration of Ukraine into the European defense-industrial space. In particular, they discussed the process of identifying countries participating in the initiative and projects that will be financed.

The EU representative assured that Europe is interested in long-term support for Ukraine and the joint development of defense projects.