
Ukraine is already asking for more money to continue fighting into
2026, a sure sign that President Volodmyr Zelensky has no plans to end
the war.
With the battlefield continuing to favor Russia, European leaders have their collective heads in the sand on who will pay. How long before President Trump walks away?
- At the G7 Finance and Central Bank governors’ meeting in Banff on May 21, Ukraine’s Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko sought financial support for 2026, “including the provision of support to the Ukrainian army through its integration into the European security system,” according to reports.
I have said before that Ukraine cannot keep fighting into 2026 without a significant injection of European money.
- Even if the war were to stop tomorrow, Ukraine would still face a huge funding black hole.
- And that prolonging the war simply extends Ukraine’s indebtedness and delinquency, nudging it every closer towards the status
Right from the beginning, the war in Ukraine has been an attritional
battle of who can sustain the fight for the longest period of time.
- A longer war will always favor Russia because the economic liability Europe faces will ratchet up to the point where it becomes politically unsustainable.
- We make the assumption that Russia’s aims in Ukraine are to prevent NATO expansion and to protect the rights of native Russian speakers in that country, and of course, on the surface, they are.
But
on the current track, Putin gets the added benefit of watching the
European Union project slowly implode, without the need to go all in on
Ukraine.

"The key task should be to develop mechanisms and tools that will allow us to attract these funds,"
------ Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Ukraine needs over $40 billion in foreign aid for 2026, prime minister says
Key details from his statement include:
- Necessity of external financing: Shmyhal stressed that external financing is crucial for Ukraine, enabling the country to allocate its own resources toward defense.
- 2025 Financial Situation: Ukraine has already secured $22 billion in external financing for 2025, and total financial allocations for defense and security in 2025 are projected to be nearly $50 billion (or 26% of GDP).
- 2026 Challenges: Shmyhal described 2026 as a "significant challenge" with external financing needs projected to remain at over $40 billion.
- Priority Task: He emphasized that developing mechanisms and instruments to attract this funding must be a key task for the Ukrainian government.
Shmyhal's
comments follow a July 8 Financial Times article which cited a
projected budget deficit of $8 billion to $19 billion for 2026, mainly
due to declining U.S. contributions and the ongoing war. A senior EU
official noted that many donors had previously anticipated a peace deal
in 2025 and are now revising their funding plans as Russia continues its
offensive. Ukraine's budget for weapons procurement in 2025 is a record
$16.4 billion. The Ukrainian government recently increased defense
spending by nearly $10 billion
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