EU agrees to release €6.6 billion in military aid for Ukraine

European Union member states agreed on September 25, 2026 to release €6.6 billion in military aid for Ukraine, resolving a multi-year deadlock. The funds, drawn from the European Peace Facility, had been blocked since 2023 by Hungary's former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Following Orbán's electoral defeat to Péter Magyar, negotiators agreed to split the package: €4.7 billion will reimburse member states for weapons, €1 billion will fund joint procurement, and €900 million will support military training.

Agreement on Ukraine aid

• ▪To help reach a compromise on the €6.6 billion European Peace Facility funds, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas proposed reimbursing contributing member states only 10 percent of their expenditures
• ▪On September 25, 2026, European Union member states agreed during a Political and Security Committee meeting in Brussels to release €6.6 billion in military aid for Ukraine stalled since spring 2023.

Allocation of the unblocked funds

• ▪The €6.6 billion unblocked from the European Peace Facility for Ukraine will be split into €4.7 billion for member state reimbursements, €1 billion for joint equipment procurement, and €900 million for the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine
• ▪Germany and Sweden have indicated they will pledge their shares of the €4.7 billion European Peace Facility reimbursement pot back into new military support for Ukraine

Reactions to the decision

• ▪Ukraine's Ministry of Defense welcomed the EU's decision to release €6.6 billion in military aid on September 25, 2026, thanking member states for turning political resolve into military capability
• ▪EU High Representative Kaja Kallas stated that the release of the €6.6 billion European Peace Facility fund is a direct counter to Moscow's hybrid attacks aimed at intimidating Europe into scaling back support

Resolution of the Hungarian veto

• ▪The €6.6 billion in European Peace Facility funds had been blocked since 2023 by a veto from Hungary's former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
• ▪Hungary's veto on the European Peace Facility funds, imposed in May 2023, was originally prompted by Ukraine adding Hungary's largest commercial bank, OTP Bank, to its "international sponsors of war" list
• ▪The deadlock over the European Peace Facility funds, blocked since 2023, was broken after Viktor Orbán lost the Hungarian parliamentary elections in April 2026 and Péter Magyar became Prime Minister

Background on the European Peace Facility

• ▪The European Peace Facility, established in March 2021 as an off-budget fund worth over €17 billion, was designed to finance EU military and defense actions and reimburse member states for donated weapons.
• ▪The European Peace Facility has provided Ukraine with €11.1 billion in support since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Debatable claims

• ▪EU states should donate their European Peace Facility reimbursements to Ukraine
• ▪The EU's €6.6 billion aid package is insufficient for Ukraine's defense budget crisis
• ▪Ukraine's 'international sponsors of war' list did more harm than good
• ▪The European Peace Facility's consensus requirement makes it ineffective for crisis response