EU disburses – The European Union has disbursed the first 3 billion-euro tranche of a 90 billion-euro loan to Ukraine as leaders gathered in Poland for a post-war recovery conference, alongside a pledge of broader long-term support and new steps aimed at rebuilding sectors l
WARSAW, Poland — The first check in a long recovery was ready, and it arrived with a message meant for two audiences at once: European governments funding the future, and Russia trying to gauge whether that future is real.
At the opening of a Ukraine post-war recovery conference in Poland. the Ukrainian prime minister announced that the European Union had disbursed the first 3 billion-euro (about $3.4 billion) tranche of a 90 billion-euro (about $101 billion) EU support loan to Ukraine. The event. attended by European leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. was framed as both a fundraising forum and a signal that Western support will not be temporary.
“We are forced to innovate to survive and this has become our superpower,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said, adding that Ukraine was grateful for the support promised to her war-battered nation.
Von der Leyen used the same stage to stress that the EU’s commitment is more than symbolism. Days after Ukraine officially started EU membership negotiations on June 15, she reiterated the bloc’s financial involvement. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. European Union countries have provided 200 billion euros (about $225 billion) in economic. financial and military support. and they have approved an additional 90 billion euros (about $101 billion) over the next two years in the form of an EU support loan.
She also pointed to another payment coming soon: another 6 billion euros (about $6.7 billion) from the loan dedicated to drone production, scheduled “in the coming days.”
Alongside the loan, leaders moved on a separate investment vehicle. In Gdansk. European leaders said they are kicking off a European equity fund aimed at investments in strategic sectors of Ukraine’s economy. Merz said the fund begins with an initial public package of up to 220 million euros. designed to create a confidence and risk-sharing mechanism for private investors.
He traced the idea to a recovery conference in Rome last year and said the effort is supported by the EU. Germany. Poland. Italy and France. Merz said public money alone will never rebuild Ukraine. but that by committing long-term capital. Europe is sending “a clear message: we believe in Ukraine’s future within the European family.”.
In another sign of what the conference was meant to produce quickly, Svyrydenko said the Ukrainian delegation plans to sign 160 deals totaling more than 10 billion euros (about $11.2 billion) during the conference in Gdansk.
Zelenskyy’s absence and a Poland dispute hung over the opening, even if it was kept mostly in the background. Svyrydenko led the Ukrainian delegation after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pulled out just days before the conference. following a dispute with Polish President Karol Nawrocki that has strained relations between the two countries.
This month. Nawrocki stripped Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state honor after Zelenskyy named a military unit after a Ukrainian paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during the war. The group cited was the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. or UPA. which fought for Ukrainian independence against both Nazi German and Soviet forces. Poland accuses the UPA of wartime killings of tens of thousands of Poles. most in the Nazi-occupied regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. which the Polish state qualifies as genocide.
Zelenskyy later returned the award to Poland, and other Ukrainian officials followed.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Zelenskyy’s absence might help reduce tensions. Svyrydenko did not reference the dispute in her speech. “We can only build the future on the basis of truth, mutual respect and understanding the past,” Tusk said in his remarks.
The gathering in Poland is, in part, a contest over time. Money was announced, tranches were disbursed, and deals were scheduled—but the most urgent question for supporters watching from Europe and beyond is whether the political will that underwrites recovery can last as long as rebuilding itself.
Ukraine recovery EU loan 3 billion-euro tranche 90 billion-euro support loan Ursula von der Leyen Yulia Svyrydenko Friedrich Merz drone production tranche European equity fund Gdansk conference Poland tensions Volodymyr Zelenskyy Karol Nawrocki Donald Tusk
3 billion euros? So like… we’re funding drones again, right?
I don’t get how this is “post-war recovery” if it’s still going on. Feels like Europe is always writing checks while Russia just waits it out. Also 90 billion sounds insane.
That 6 billion for drone production part is the only thing my brain grabbed. If they’re gonna build drones, wouldn’t that just mean more fighting? Unless they’re making “defensive” drones which is kinda the same thing but different wording.
So EU sent money to Ukraine but it’s basically to prove a point to Russia? Like “look we mean it” lol. Meanwhile my taxes probably went up for this and nobody ever asked me. I read somewhere Germany already paid for most of it? Not sure but the numbers are so big I just assume everyone’s skimming off the top.