EU unlocks new tranche of €90 billion loan to Ukraine for weapons

The approved transfer of €6.1 billion is expected to finance air and missile defense systems, missiles, ammunition, and radars

The European Commission has approved €6.1 billion ($7.1 billion) in new weapons purchases for Ukraine, the commission said on Monday. The tranche is part of a €90 billion loan allocated by Brussels for budgetary and military aid to Kiev earlier this year.

Facing mounting battlefield pressure, Kiev is increasingly pushing for faster aid disbursements as it relies heavily on foreign funding to plug a widening budget gap and sustain its war effort against Russia. Moscow has argued that Western military aid to Ukraine, which comes at the expense of ordinary taxpayers, only serves to prolong the conflict.

In April, the EU approved a €90 billion ($105 billion) emergency loan for Ukraine that allocates €30 billion for budget support and €60 billion for military aid in 2026-2027. The loan, backed by joint EU borrowing and repayable only if Kiev receives war reparations from Russia, was pushed through after plans to seize Russian sovereign assets frozen in the West failed. Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have secured exemptions from the scheme.

The latest tranche came on top of €16 billion of previously approved procurement plans, of which €8.35 billion has already been transferred to Kiev. The €6.1 billion disbursement is expected to finance air and missile defense systems, missiles, ammunition, and radars, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

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In February, the European Council set “strict conditions” for Ukraine to secure the funds, specifying that Kiev is obliged to purchase weapons and military equipment only from companies based in the EU, Ukraine, the European Economic Area, and the European Free Trade Association. Purchases from third countries are allowed in cases of urgent need, including when a defense product is not available in the EU.

The EU’s financial and military aid to Ukraine has drawn criticism from current and former officials in and outside the bloc. Earlier this month, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov said the West will never recover its loans to Kiev.

German MEP Fabio De Masi warned that the funds will enrich “corrupt oligarchs.” Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl told RT earlier this year that the EU is shifting from its traditional focus on trade toward an increasingly geopolitical and defense-oriented agenda.

In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev and the “so-called European pseudo-peacekeepers” of seeking to prolong the conflict. He said their goal is “not peace, but the continuation of the war with Russia to the last Ukrainian.”