Politico: EU debating whether to use €90 billion loan to buy US weapons for Ukraine

Germany and the Netherlands are at odds with France over aid to Ukraine. Both countries insist that Kyiv should be able to buy American weapons with the €90 billion EU loan, but France is against the money going to the United States.

Politico writes about this with reference to the blocʼs internal documents.

French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to favor EU military companies to strengthen the blocʼs defense industry — even if it means Kyiv will not be able to immediately acquire everything it needs to deter Russian forces.

Most countries, led by Germany and the Netherlands, respond by saying that Kyiv should have more freedom to use the EU financial package to finance its defense.

The friction comes after years of debate over whether to include Washington in EU defense procurement programs, and the differences have only deepened after the administration of the US President Donald Trump threatened to militarily seize Greenland.

Critics respond that Franceʼs insistence on a strict "Buy European" norm will tie Ukraineʼs hands and limit its ability to defend itself against Russia.

“Ukraine urgently needs equipment produced by third countries, in particular, American-made air defense systems and interceptors, ammunition and spare parts for the F-16, as well as deep strike capabilities,” the Dutch government wrote in a letter to other EU countries, which was reviewed by Politico.

Most countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, support the general “Buy European” rule. However, sources say only Greece and Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council and is therefore neutral, support the French initiative to limit the scheme to EU companies only.

• In December 2025,the EU agreed to €90 billion in aid for Ukraine over the next two years. The loan was initially expected to be financed from frozen Russian funds, but the bloc could not agree on this issue, so the money was allocated from the EU budget.
• More than two-thirds of the funding is expected to go to military spending, rather than regular budget support, sources told Politico.

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