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NEWS: Ukraine sets 2026 defence needs at $120 billion

#Ukraine #DefenceFunding #FrozenRussianAssets #EuropeanSecurity

Read more: continental-affairs.eu/ukraine-sets...

Ukraine to revise 2025 budget, increasing financing for defence, lawmaker says KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s finance ministry plans to revise the 2025 budget to boost financing for defence, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Thursday, as the war with Russia drives demand for more weapons, ammunition and funds to pay soldiers’ wages. Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, reporting to parliament on the budget situation, said Ukraine needs to channel more funds to its armed forces, Zhelezniak said on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian parliamentary sessions are closed to the public, including to the media, for security reasons. The 2025 budget currently allocates 2.23 trillion hryvnias ($53.7 billion) - about 26% of Ukraine’s gross domestic product - for defence spending. Ukraine’s army is battling a much larger and better-equipped enemy along more than 1,000 kilometres of the frontline in a conflict now well into its fourth year. Finance ministry data showed that Ukraine’s defence spending totalled 765 billion hryvnias ($18.4 billion) in the first four months of the year. Government officials have said they plan to look for additional ways to increase domestic revenues by focusing on measures to reduce the shadow economy. While the bulk of state revenues go to fund the Ukrainian army and domestic weapons production, Ukraine relies on financial aid from its Western allies to finance social and humanitarian spending. Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has received about $133 billion in international financial support.

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3/8
The EU's €800 billion plan would allow member states to take out loans and increase national debts without penalties under strict fiscal rules.

But many members want to go further—seeking common borrowing for direct grants rather than loans for defence spending.
#DefenceFunding #EconomicRules

6/9
The European Commission is exploring unprecedented funding mechanisms: relaxed fiscal rules could raise €650bn, EU development funds might be reassigned to defence, and a €150bn loan facility for military purchases is planned.
#DefenceFunding #EUInitiative

4/10 Previously, Merz argued Germany must live within its means. Now he accepts a special fund is required for defence—but the "debt brake" is constitutionally enshrined and needs a two-thirds majority to reform. Political reality has crashed into fiscal ideology.
#DefenceFunding