Ukraine will ask its allies for an additional $20 billion to make Russia “burn,” Politico writes: Ukrainian officials hope to secure the money before the NATO summit in Ankara in July, otherwise, they say, Russia could seize the initiative on the battlefield. A senior Ukrainian Defense Ministry official told the outlet about the request.
“Everyone sees that Russia is burning, and we want it to burn even more, but for that we need funding,” the official said.
According to Politico’s sources, the request will be presented on June 18 at the next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format.
The same issue, the outlet notes, was raised by Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and other members of the government during a series of meetings with counterparts from Norway, Sweden, Germany and Canada.
According to the official, to reach the target of $20 billion, each ally will be asked to contribute between $2 billion and $6 billion. “It could be aid or a loan,” he explained.
Ukraine’s defense budget for the current year stands at 4.4 trillion hryvnias. According to the Defense Ministry, partner countries have already allocated $38 billion in military aid.
Kyiv intends to use the additional funds to strengthen air defenses and purchase more drones, ammunition, electronic-warfare systems and long-range fire capabilities.
The main task, Politico writes, is to increase the tempo of the confrontation before Moscow can regroup its forces to its advantage.
“The window of opportunity tends to close. Russia is fast and inventive. And if we give them time to adapt, we may miss the only real chance to end this war through real negotiations. And if Russia invents its own interceptor drones, that will be a catastrophe for us,” the senior official warned.