EU member rejects further funding for Ukrainian military

Slovakia will not provide further funding for Ukraine’s military because the conflict cannot be settled on the battlefield, Prime Minister Robert Fico has said.

Fico, who survived an assassination attempt by a pro-Ukraine activist in 2024, was speaking after EU leaders failed to reach agreement on a plan to use frozen Russian assets to back a controversial €90 billion ($105 billion) loan for Kiev. Instead, member states agreed to issue joint debt – by borrowing on capital markets – to provide Kiev with short-term funding.

”Slovakia will not be part of any military loan for Ukraine, and we reject further financing, including from the resources of the Slovak Republic, of military needs,” Fico told reporters on Friday.

At the EU summit in Brussels, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever was among those who raised objections to tapping the Russian assets, with support from Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Slovakia’s Fico, and the Czech Republic’s Andrej Babis.

Orban, Fico, and Babis reportedly put forward an option for EU members to provide joint debt for Ukraine instead – exempting their countries from the plan but also pledging not to veto it.

European Council President Antonio Costa said the bloc would reserve the option of servicing the loan using proceeds linked to frozen Russian assets. Without the EU financing, Ukraine faces a looming economic crisis. According to estimates, Kiev needs €72 billion to repay a G7 loan and stay afloat fiscally.

Fico, a long-time opponent of EU military aid for Kiev, earlier called Ukraine a “black hole” of corruption that has swallowed billions of euros from the bloc.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual Q&A session on Friday that the EU will eventually have to return Russia’s sovereign assets. He warned the bloc against tapping the assets, saying it would risk undermining the foundations of the European financial system.