EU to Press Canada and UK for More Ukraine Funding as Kyiv Faces a €70 Billion Gap

The European Union is turning to allies outside the bloc to meet Ukraine's rising costs. Brussels is preparing to persuade Canada and the United Kingdom to increase their support as part of efforts to plug the €70 billion funding gap Kyiv faces next year.

The EU-Canada summit on October 29-30 and the EU-U.K. summit on November 20 will give Brussels a chance to make the case at the highest level. With Kyiv's financing needs rising and U.S. backing uncertain, Brussels is increasingly looking to non-EU allies to contribute more, five EU officials, including two from the European Commission, and two EU diplomats have said.

The EU and its member countries provide 80 percent of Ukraine's external aid, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. 'We urgently need other partners to step up,' she said.

The EU has committed to a €90 billion loan for 2026 and 2027, intended to cover about two-thirds of Ukraine's needs. Brussels had expected other partners — including Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Norway — to provide another €45 billion, but much of that money has been slow to arrive as other governments have yet to firm up or disburse the support Brussels expected.

The projected 2027 bill has grown for several reasons: Russia is intensifying its assault, the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is driving up costs, and Washington is shifting toward positions more favourable to Moscow — leaving Europe and other allies to shoulder more of the cost of keeping Kyiv afloat.

Brussels is heading into negotiations about closer economic and defence ties with London and Ottawa. Diplomats and EU officials say they do not expect a formal bargain, but that support for Kyiv from the EU's partners is likely to shape the political climate around the talks. They were granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive diplomacy.

The EU has also raised Ukraine's 2027 financing needs at meetings of the International Monetary Fund, the G7 and the G20, as well as with Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

European Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the need to secure financial support for Ukraine in 2027 was a prominent topic during his meetings in Bangkok around last week's IMF and World Bank Group meetings. He called for 'broad burden sharing' and stressed the importance of international partners each doing their part as Ukraine continues fighting Russian aggression.

All the EU officials and diplomats stressed that the push is not a criticism of the U.K. or Canada, both strong supporters of Ukraine. The point, they said, is that Kyiv's needs have grown. The U.K. says it has committed a total of £25 billion for Ukraine, and Canada has promised the equivalent of €5.4 billion in military assistance and €8.2 billion in direct financial support.

The EU and its member countries say they have contributed over €231 billion since Russia's full-scale invasion, including military aid, budget support and guarantees, support for Ukrainians hosted in the bloc, and proceeds from immobilised Russian assets — an amount one senior EU diplomat described as already 'over and above.' How to meet Ukraine's financial needs has become 'a central discussion in every single meeting' with partners supporting Kyiv, a Commission official said.

Political pressure is also building behind the funding squeeze. Support for Kyiv will be tested in a series of elections across Europe next year. In France, far-right front-runner Marine Le Pen has vowed to end aid if elected president in 2027, while in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni faces a challenge from Russia-friendly Roberto Vannacci ahead of next year's election.

The looming votes, combined with the unpredictability of Washington's backing, mean European countries need to look beyond their own budgets, the senior diplomat said: 'We need to think wider and broader.' The EU is also urging the Ukrainian government to secure more support from non-EU backers. 'This is the first next step that they need to secure from their partners,' the Commission official said.

EU ambassadors are set to discuss the upcoming Canada and U.K. summits tomorrow, with Ukraine funding expected to form part of the discussions, the two diplomats said. Brussels, 'without pointing the finger,' wants to use the run-up to the meetings to press for broader support, the senior diplomat said. But the EU 'won't be pulling a Trump' and explicitly linking favourable treatment to contributions to Ukraine, they added.

The Commission has not set out what it will ask partners for or how any request might connect to trade and defence talks. Von der Leyen proposed making Canada the EU's first 'associate member' in her State of the Union speech last month, and the October summit in Montreal is an opportunity to develop the idea. Ottawa will participate in the EU's SAFE programme, which finances joint defence procurement, giving Canadian companies preferential access to SAFE-funded contracts. Kathryn Serieux, a spokesperson for Canada's Privy Council Office, said Ottawa 'is and has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine,' with Canada committing nearly C$26 billion in military, financial, development and humanitarian assistance.

The U.K. summit is expected to advance Prime Minister Andy Burnham's promised reset with the bloc, including agreements on youth mobility, food and emissions trading. Burnham has said the status quo is 'not good enough' and wants Britain to move closer to the EU. London wants U.K. companies to count as European under the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, which would give preference to goods made in Europe in public contracts and industrial support. Three U.K. officials said they had not heard of a request for Britain to provide more support for Ukraine in exchange for qualifying under the act. The EU is also pressing Japan to increase its contributions, with one senior EU official saying it was lagging in 2026; a person familiar with the thinking in Tokyo pushed back, saying Tokyo had already given around $20 billion in support to Kyiv — though there could be room for more if Ukraine requested it. Australia says it has not yet received a request for more funding for Ukraine for 2027.