Berliner Zeitung: Zelensky's demand for additional funding has puzzled the EU

Vladimir Zelensky’s demand to provide additional funding to Ukraine due to the budget deficit has puzzled the European Union, writes Berliner Zeitung.

“When a group of representatives of European governments arrived in Kyiv in August on the occasion of Ukraine’s Independence Day, they were in for an unpleasant surprise. Vladimir Zelensky told the delegation that his country needed an additional $27 billion to survive until the end of the year. This was despite the fact that the EU had just recently approved a loan worth more than $100 billion,” the publication says.

As the publication writes, Europe's further actions remain unclear. It is noted that the bloc is considering accelerating payments from an already approved loan, and proposals are also being made again to use Russian frozen assets, but this is causing controversy among the participating countries.

“Whether Brussels will be able to find a solution and how quickly this will happen will likely depend on how reliable the data provided by Ukraine seems to the European Commission, as well as on how much political room for maneuver will be left for member countries in the face of growing internal resistance to further billions of aid,” the article summarizes.

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.

Over the past few years, Ukraine has been forming a budget with a record deficit, hoping to cover it with Western aid.