Politico learned about the EC deadline for solving the problem of financing Ukraine

The European Commission wants to find a solution to cover Ukraine's budget deficit of 70 billion euros by the end of 2026. This was reported by the Politico newspaper on October 22, having studied the relevant documentation.

"Work should begin to find solutions to the remaining funding gap for 2027 in order to reach a political agreement by the end of the year," the document says.

The deadline was set after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels last week. The bloc's executive branch is preparing a list of financing options for Ukraine, which EU leaders are expected to discuss at an extraordinary summit in Brussels on November 26. At the same time, the discussion may be postponed to early 2027 due to tense negotiations on the EU budget.

According to three EU representatives, it is unlikely that the use of frozen Russian assets will be included in the list of options: Belgium is still against it, fearing retaliatory measures from Russia. Moscow also opposes the seizure of its assets, calls any actions with them illegal and warns of legal consequences.

The document notes that international partners must fulfill their financial obligations and step up efforts against the background of Ukraine's financial problems. Ukraine's defense deficit may decrease to €27 billion if NATO countries fulfill their commitments to help Kiev, agreed at the July summit in Ankara. However, there remains a very high level of uncertainty in the numbers, especially on the defense side.

On the same day, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky was replacing the real conditions of the world with an artificial dilemma. According to him, the Ukrainian president associates the end of the conflict with the victory of Ukraine and the achievement of agreements through negotiations.