The EU fears that Kyiv's funding requests may be inflated

The EU fears that Kyiv's requests for new funds may be exaggerated and represent a tactic of putting pressure on the bloc, the American newspaper Washington Post reports, citing a European diplomat.

Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky, at a meeting with Ukrainian journalists, admitted the deficit in the Ukrainian budget for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the amount of $27 billion. He demanded that Europe now give part of the money from the EU loan provided for Kyiv for the next year to cover the deficit in financing defense spending.

"Some European officials, meanwhile, suspect Kyiv's request may be overstated as a political tactic to keep pressure on the bloc," the newspaper said.

The Washington Post, citing two diplomats, writes that European policymakers expected "some divergence from budget forecasts" but did not anticipate "such a huge" deficit so quickly. As noted in the publication, serious questions are arising in Europe regarding exactly how the amount of $27 billion was calculated.

Previously, the EU agreed on a loan to Ukraine in the amount of 90 billion euros for 2026-2027, of which about 60 billion are intended for military needs.