Kyiv Independent
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United Kingdom
Joined 17 Feb 2022
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Ukraine is still missing billions of euros needed for its defense in 2026, despite the EU finalizing a massive loan to Kyiv.
Kyiv faces a defense gap of 19.6 billion euros ($23.1 billion) in 2026, even after accounting for 86.7 billion euros ($102 billion) already committed to the country and an extra 28.3 billion euros ($33.9 billion) on its way as part of the EU’s 90-billion-euro Ukraine Support Loan, according to a European Commission presentation seen by the Kyiv Independent.
Now in its fifth year of fighting off Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine relies heavily on foreign assistance to fund and supply its military, and to keep state services functioning.
Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed a central part of that funding, the 90 billion euro ($106 billion) Ukraine Support Loan, ostensibly over a dispute related to a Russian oil flow through the Soviet-era pipeline Druzhba pipeline.
That veto is now expected to be lifted as Ukraine has repaired the pipeline and Orban lost to a pro-European challenger in Hungary’s April 12 election.
But while Ukraine’s budget will be fully financed in 2026 in light of the loan, a gap remains for defense funds, the document says.
Ukraine needs a total of 134.6 billion euros ($158.2 billion) for its defense in 2026, up from 111.4 ($130.9) billion euros in 2025.
Photo: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images
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Russia’s war won’t end soon, Dmytro Kuleba says
The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Denisova sits down with Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s former foreign minister, to discuss U.S.-led peace talks, Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine, Europe’s role in ending the war, and why he believes neither Washington nor Moscow can impose a settlement on Kyiv. Kuleba explains why the war may be entering a prolonged deadlock, what could force Russia to negotiate, why Ukraine may need elections before the war ends, and what these debates reveal about the next phase of the war and European security.
Insufficient help, insufficient manpower, insufficient cash flow and a revoltingly hostile U.S. regime.
Yet Ukraine is still holding its own and landing some heavy blows on the cauldron of devilry.
Europe is weak and cowardly, and we must face the probability that this won’t change during our lifetimes.
This what Mr Kuleba has been doing since getting shitcanned :
(From Wiki) :-
“In December 2024, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School has announced the appointment of Dmytro Kuleba as a non-resident senior fellow. The official release described Kuleba as “internationally recognized as one of the most influential diplomats of his generation and a global champion for democracy, freedom, and resilience.”
Dmytro Kuleba was appointed as an associate professor at the Sciences Po, to start in January 2025, teaching wartime diplomacy there.
Kuleba serves on the Executive Advisory Board of the World.Minds Foundation, where he engages in international dialogue on diplomacy, security, and global cooperation.”
It seems a bit of a waste of this man’s talents to me.
He was and remains a firm advocate for Ukraine becoming a Nato and EU member.
Since Nato is denied to Ukraine indefinitely and EU membership is probably years away, Ukraine will remain vulnerable to attack by vermin.
And spare a thought for litle Georgia: should its ruling dictatorship be defeated electorally or by a second Rose Revolution, its people know that putler will invade and as usual no one will do fuck all to help them.