h.ua

Published · Updated

EU to allocate extra €3.3 billion for Ukrainian missiles and drones, von der Leyen tells Zelensky

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced during a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky that the EU will allocate an additional €3.3 billion to Ukraine for missiles and drones. She said Russia continues to systematically strike Kyiv to make daily life unbearable for residents, and outlined plans for a joint EU-Ukraine air and missile defense system based on the Freya program.

Key points

  • EU to allocate an additional €3.3 billion to Ukraine for missiles and drones, announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on September 17 following a call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
  • The previous week the EU approved financing for Patriot interceptors under a loan to Ukraine — the first time the EU directly financed supply of PAC-3 missiles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
  • Von der Leyen said the EU is ready to use remaining funds from the SAFE program (a €150 billion EU defense credit instrument) to launch a new program of joint EU-Ukraine defense projects.
  • The EU and Ukraine plan to jointly develop a European air and missile defense system based on the shared Freya program; the first phase is complete with testing planned by year-end, and the system is intended to reduce EU dependence on US Patriot interceptors.
  • Von der Leyen discussed with Zelensky reforms the Verkhovna Rada must adopt to unblock further EU financing and advance Ukraine's path to EU membership.
  • The Verkhovna Rada ratified Ukraine's participation in the European Defense Fund; an EU member states' committee preliminarily approved five European Defense Projects of Common Interest at €60 million each.
  • Brussels has mobilized nearly €15 billion for Ukraine this year, including €6.1 billion for air defense; von der Leyen will attend the UN General Assembly session in New York next week.

Why it matters

The €3.3 billion tranche is one of the largest single EU military-financing announcements for Ukraine to date and is explicitly tied to missiles and drones — weapons Kyiv has most urgently needed to counter ongoing Russian strikes. Pairing the aid with a joint EU-Ukraine air and missile defense effort signals a longer-term shift toward European-built interceptors and away from sole reliance on US systems. The announcement also links continued financing to Verkhovna Rada reforms, tying military support to Ukraine's EU accession track.

What happened

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky on September 17 and announced that the EU will allocate an additional €3.3 billion to Ukraine for missiles and drones, with the allocation reported to follow on September 18. Von der Leyen said Russia continues to systematically strike Kyiv to make daily life unbearable for residents, framing the new financing in that context. She also announced EU readiness to use remaining SAFE program funds — SAFE being a €150 billion EU defense credit instrument — to launch a new program of joint EU-Ukraine defense projects. The central goal of that program is a European air and missile defense system based on the shared Freya development; the first phase of Freya is reported complete with testing to begin by year's end. The two leaders also discussed reforms the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, needs to adopt to unblock further EU financing and advance Ukraine's EU membership path. Von der Leyen said she would attend the UN General Assembly session in New York the following week.

Where reporting differs

Sources vary slightly in how they describe the joint missile-defense project: some call Freya a "common counter-ballistic missile system," while others describe the EU-Ukraine program as "based on the joint Freya development." One fact specifies that the €3.3 billion will be allocated on September 18; other sources describe the allocation only as forthcoming or made "the following day" without naming a date.

Background

The previous week the EU approved financing for Patriot interceptors under a loan to Ukraine, described as the first time the EU directly financed the supply of PAC-3 missiles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Brussels has mobilized nearly €15 billion for Ukraine this year, including €6.1 billion earmarked for air defense — covering air defense systems, missiles, ammunition and radars. The Verkhovna Rada has ratified Ukraine's participation in the European Defense Fund, and an EU member states' committee has preliminarily approved five European Defense Projects of Common Interest at €60 million each. The first phase of the Freya system has been completed, with testing planned to begin by the end of the year.