Bloomberg: Ukraine could run out of defense money in a few months

Ukraine will only have enough money for defense until June 2026. Among the reasons are Hungaryʼs blocking of a €90 billion loan for Ukraine, a threat to the next IMF tranche, and slow financing of weapons under the PURL program.

This was reported by Bloomberg, citing sources among Ukrainian and foreign officials.

National Bank Chairman Andriy Pyshny said in an interview with Bloomberg that if international funds do not arrive, the institution will be forced to resume direct lending to the Ministry of Finance. The money will go to pay salaries to military personnel and employees and finance basic banking services.

Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities estimated that Ukraine needs at least another $15 billion to purchase American weapons this year. And in total, Ukraine needs $52 billion in foreign aid in 2026.

What preceded

Hungary is blocking a €90 billion loan to Ukraine, which EU leaders agreed to at a summit on December 18, 2025, and supported on February 11. The reason is the halt in the transit of Russian oil through the “Druzhba” pipeline. Ukraine says the pipeline was damaged by a Russian attack, while Hungary believes the transit was halted for political reasons.

At the end of February, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban put forward a condition and said that he could unblock the loan to Ukraine if the European Commission approved Budapestʼs application for a €16 billion defense loan under the SAFE instrument.

At the same time, the IMF is concerned about whether Ukraine will be able to continue receiving assistance from the $8.1 billion package because the Verkhovna Rada has not passed all the necessary bills. Parliament has until the end of March to pass a number of decisions. These include raising taxes for businesses and citizens as part of a new four-year credit program that the IMF approved in February.

The situation is made worse by the reluctance of some NATO allies to provide new funding for the US arms procurement program, known as PURL. Ukraine’s ambassador to NATO Alyona Hetmanchuk, told Bloomberg that only a small number of countries are paying for the bulk of the equipment, making it difficult to turn to them again and again for help.

In addition, amid the escalating conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States, the Pentagon is considering the option of redirecting weapons for Ukraine to the Middle East. Among the weapons that could be transferred are interceptor missiles for air defense ordered under the PURL program from NATO.

Author: Veronika Dovhanyuk

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