Overview
- The European Commission announced the release of $3.6 billion as the first instalment of the Ukraine Support Loan to cover budget needs and immediate defence purchases.
- Officials said the first payment from a separate $6.8 billion defence package for drone procurement will be sent in the coming days to speed battlefield deliveries.
- Future instalments are conditional on the International Monetary Fund verifying agreed reforms and on Kyiv maintaining anti-corruption commitments, and the EU can suspend payments if conditions are not met.
- The loan is funded through joint EU borrowing after litigation blocked use of frozen Russian assets, and Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic secured carve-outs from parts of the arrangement.
- The package aims to stabilise Ukraine’s payrolls and military spending in 2026–27, to prioritise purchases of European-made weapons where possible, and to be repaid in part through any future Russian reparations.