FT: Brussels scrambles to fill Ukraine’s $19 billion budget gap amid dwindling US support

Brussels is urgently searching for ways to plug a looming shortfall of up to $19 billion in Ukraine’s budget for 2026, as Kyiv faces shrinking US support and fading hopes for a ceasefire with Russia.

According to people familiar with the matter, the European Commission is in talks with EU member states to explore options including off-budget military grants, advancing loans from an existing $50 billion G7 support package, and stepping up efforts to use frozen Russian state assets held in the EU.

Despite international assistance pledged so far, Ukraine’s anticipated budget gap for next year remains unfunded.

“There’s growing concern about next year and many stakeholders that were banking on a ceasefire deal this year [to ease Ukraine’s fiscal strains] are having to recalculate their outlays and realising that there’s a [financing] hole whichever way they try to slice it,” a senior EU official involved in discussions with Kyiv told the Financial Times (FT).

The Commission has already revised allocations from Ukraine-focused financial instruments for 2025, EU officials told FT, reflecting the reality of a prolonged conflict and the absence of any credible ceasefire with Moscow.

Brussels' renewed push to secure funding coincides with an upcoming summit in Rome this week on Ukraine’s reconstruction needs, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to attend.

While the International Monetary Fund has assessed that Ukraine’s 2026 financing requirements are currently met, this projection is based on the assumption that the war ends this year or by mid-2026 — a scenario that both Kyiv and Brussels view as increasingly unrealistic.

As the war drags on, the urgency of securing stable long-term financial support for Ukraine has become a pressing issue for EU leaders, who must now grapple with how to sustain both military and economic aid in a more uncertain geopolitical environment.

By Vugar Khalilov