German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has made the agreement on the European Union’s next seven-year budget conditional on securing new financial support for Ukraine. He demands that all member states contribute to covering Kyiv’s economic needs. He expressed this position in a letter sent to European Council President António Costa, which was obtained by Euronews.
According to the chancellor, a joint financial commitment from all member states is a condition for advancing discussions on the other issues of the European budget. Ukraine faces a funding gap of around 70 billion euros for the 2027 budget. This gap is the result of damage and costs caused by Russia’s ongoing attacks.
The European Union has pledged to cover about two-thirds of this amount, or approximately 45 billion euros, through a financial mechanism that has yet to be defined. In his letter to Costa, Merz stressed that a collective commitment from everyone, without exception, to contribute fairly to closing this gap is an essential precondition.
This precondition applies both to resolving this issue and to discussing any other issue, especially those with financial implications. The German chancellor also called for the negotiations on the multiannual EU budget to guarantee a sustainable financial solution for Ukraine beyond 2027.
According to him, the agreement must provide long-term financing for Kyiv from 2028 onward, including obligations to pay the interest that has accumulated so far. The German chancellor’s position comes at a time when financing Ukraine and sharing the financial burden among member states remain among the most sensitive issues in negotiations within the European Union.