Zelenskyy asks EU leaders for €70 billion more as Trump calls him hard to deal with

Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday that Ukraine will need far more money than Europe has so far planned, as a bitter public row with President Donald Trump hung over the second day of their summit.

“The war will cost €155 billion next year,” the Ukrainian president told the 27 leaders. He said Ukraine needed “at least €70 billion more” from them for defence, weapons and the resilience of the country through another winter of Russian attacks.

The request goes well beyond what Brussels has budgeted. The EU has already approved a €90 billion loan covering 2026 and 2027, and plans to pay out €45 billion of it next year. The European Commission has not endorsed Kyiv’s figure.

A winter package

Zelenskyy arrived on Friday morning with three priorities. “That’s why we have to prepare for the winter. Winter package. It’s not only energy, it’s also air defence and fundings,” he told reporters.

After meeting European Council President António Costa and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, he wrote that Russia had given no sign of wanting peace. “Right now, there are no signals from Russia that it is ready to end its war,” he said.

EU leaders lined up to say there would be no softening towards Moscow. “This is no time to relieve Russia’s sanctions. Now is the time to increase our support and increase our pressure,” Costa said. Von der Leyen said the EU “will not lift any sanctions unless Russia stops the war,” adding: “We are working now on the 22nd sanctions package.”

Trump’s attack

The meetings came hours after Trump, in an interview with Newsmax, turned on the Ukrainian leader again. “Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with,” he said. “I think I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin.” He also called Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian oil refineries a “disgrace”, and has said Ukraine should get a new president.

Zelenskyy, who ended Kyiv’s pause on refinery strikes this week, pushed back on the diesel supply arrangement Washington struck with Moscow. He called it “an arrangement we were unaware of” and said: “we cannot accept these diesel deals, these agreements, because gas deals will follow.”

Frozen assets and Hungary

The old argument over about €210 billion in Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU resurfaced. Zelenskyy urged leaders to act before Moscow could claw them back. “The main priority is that Russia doesn’t have the opportunity to influence later on the discussion on these assets,” he said.

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs was blunt: “The frozen assets are there. That’s what should be used to support Ukraine. Simple.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called it “one of the best solutions we have right in front of us.” Belgium, which holds most of the assets, remains opposed.

There was a warmer moment with Hungary. Zelenskyy held his first bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who later said: “I assured the Ukrainian President of my full solidarity.” Magyar welcomed a political agreement on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region.

What comes next

Ukraine opened new chapters of its EU membership talks this week and hopes to open the last two clusters by the end of the year. The question of the frozen assets is expected to return when leaders meet again in December.