Ukraine has asked its European Union partners to allocate 6.6 billion euros ($7.5 billion) from the European Peace Facility to military aid, hoping to capitalize on what officials describe as a six-to-nine-month "window of opportunity" on the battlefield.
Ukraine's total defense need is estimated at around 136 billion euros this year, with the Ukrainian budget covering around 53 billion euros of that amount, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a letter seen by Reuters.
Ukraine is set to receive about 28.3 billion euros for defense purposes this year from the 90-billion-euro EU loan, but even with that and Kyiv's own funding, "substantial" defense financing needs remain unmet, Fedorov said in the letter, dated June 26.
The funds under the EPF could become "one of the most impactful European contributions to Ukraine's defense effort this year, but only if those resources are directed where they can generate the greatest and most immediate military effect," he said.
Russia's advances have slowed this year, with Ukraine staging successful counterattacks on some parts of the frontline and leveraging its mid- and long-range attacks on Russian territory to disrupt Moscow's logistics and curb its oil revenue.
Separately, Fedorov told a news conference on June 17 that he was seeking an additional $20 billion in military funding from the Ukraine Defense Contact Group – an alliance of 50 nations, also known as the Ramstein group, that provides aid to Ukraine – on top of $40 billion already committed.
