Lars Klingbeil
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EU seeks additional partners to close Ukraine's 2027 financing gap
At IMF and G7 meetings in Bangkok, EU officials are recruiting additional partners to help cover Ukraine's 2027 financing shortfall. EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU's €45 billion pledge for 2027 will not be enough and that Brussels is approaching Norway, Switzerland, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom to contribute the rest. German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil also stressed Germany's continued support, while Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky put the 2027 budget financing gap above $32.6 billion.
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Former German Chancellor Schröder celebrated Putin's 74th birthday in Moscow, drawing condemnation from Berlin and Brussels
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder joined Vladimir Putin at Putin's home on 7 October to mark Putin's 74th birthday, according to the Kremlin. The visit triggered sharp criticism from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, senior Bundestag figures, EU leaders, and members of Schröder's own SPD, while some in the SPD defended the trip as a possible opening for mediation. Schröder travelled to Moscow in connection with the Russian subsidiary of the German Globus hypermarket chain, of whose supervisory board he is a member.
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Bessent tells Russia's Siluanov no economic cooperation possible until war in Ukraine ends
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov that no easing of economic restrictions or agreements on other matters are possible while Russia's war in Ukraine continues, in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers gathering in Asheville, North Carolina. The meeting took place as European representatives expressed dissatisfaction with Siluanov's first in-person attendance at a G20 financial meeting since the start of the full-scale invasion.