U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham was in Kyiv Monday for a meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing.
European Council President António Costa, Luxembourgish Prime Minister Luc Frieden, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Estonian President Alar Karis, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and other Nordic and Baltic leaders also attended in person, while French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined remotely.
“Ukrainian people deserve not just continued support but our gratitude … I am determined we [the coalition of the willing] will work together to deliver the support you need,” Burnham said in a statement.
The funding gap originated after the defense ministry brought forward spending originally planned for the second half of the year, while the EU’s €90 billion loan was delayed by roadblocks from Hungary.
“At the beginning of the year, decisions were made at the ministry to use in the first half of the year funds that were intended to be disbursed in the second half,” Zelenskyy said during a meeting with reporters on Saturday. The shortfall comes on top of €30 billion in funding Europe has already pledged to Ukraine this year as part of the €90 billion loan.
Purchases made included “fiber-optic drones, middle-strike drones, interceptors,” former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told POLITICO in June.