EU to give Ukraine funds to procure missiles, drones

| September 18, 2026

European Union officials have promised “3.3 billion euros for missiles and drones in Ukraine”.

European Commission President Ursula ‌von der Leyen says the European Union will provide Ukraine with billions of euros to procure missiles and ‌drones.

“I just ‌had ⁠a phone call with President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy. Tomorrow we will disburse 3.3 billion euros ($A5.3 billion) for missiles and drones in Ukraine,” von ⁠der ‌Leyen said on X.

Zelenskiy, writing on the Telegram ‌messaging app, made no mention of the new disbursement.

He described his conversation with von der Leyen as “very productive” and ‌said discussions focused on “vital steps for the resilience of our defence” including issues of financing.

Ukrainian officials said Russian forces bombarded Kyiv and other cities with missiles and drones overnight, leaving more than 20 people injured.

People react after an attack on Odesa — Several people have been injured in Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, officials say. (EPA PHOTO)

Over 20 people were injured in the overnight strikes, Ukrainian officials said, following attacks carried ‌out after the US Congress approved a major sanctions bill targeting Moscow.

Sirens sounded on Thursday in eastern Poland and two Polish airports temporarily suspended flights after Russia launched its attack in western Ukraine, close to the border with Poland, Polish and Ukrainian authorities said.

“A massive attack on the western part of Ukraine – very close to the Polish border – has just ended,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

The Polish army said no violation of Polish airspace had been registered and that military aircraft had finished ‌their operations.

The airports ‌in Rzeszow and Lublin ⁠reopened after their temporary closure.

I spoke with the President of the European Commission, @vonderleyen. A very productive conversation. I thanked Ursula for the attention to Ukraine and security issues in her annual State of the Union Address. The initiative to use the remaining SAFE funds to finance new defense projects by Ukraine and the European Union is very timely and truly necessary. It is important to implement it. Of course, we are also ready to cooperate on other security proposals that can strengthen all of Europe and each of our countries. We discussed the steps needed to ensure our defense resilience. In great detail, we discussed the issue of financing Ukraine’s defense. We are preparing a solution to this problem and agreed to meet in New York on the sidelines of UNGA. Thank you for the support!

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 17, 2026

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed sanctions and tariff legislation championed by late senator Lindsey Graham that is designed to tighten the economic squeeze on Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The bill has been sent to President Donald Trump to sign into law.

Zelenskiy called the bill, alongside existing measures, an “extremely powerful tool” that could help force Russia to end its war.

“It is symbolic that the US House of Representatives passed the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act on the night of yet another Russian attack on Ukraine with ballistic ⁠and other missiles and drones,” Zelenskiy said.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that further US ‌sanctions against Russia would make it harder to reach a peace deal.

Reuters

EU to give Ukraine funds to procure missiles, drones

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