France opposes the European Unionʼs plan to simplify the mechanism for purchasing British “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles for Ukraine. Paris is convinced that the money from the loan should be spent within the EU.
This is reported by The Telegraph, citing an unnamed diplomatic source.
The €90 billion EU loan stipulates that weapons should be purchased primarily from EU countries and Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has estimated that the country will need €24 billion worth of weapons from outside the EU this year.
This figure mainly concerns the supply of American-made “Patriot” air defense systems and PAC-3 interceptors, but long-range missiles are another need that European countries may not be able to provide.
Therefore, 11 countries in the bloc identified the British “Storm Shadow” cruise missile as a potential option to close this gap and proposed relaxing the loan rules so that Ukraine could buy them.
But France insists that the funds should be spent only within the EU. Paris is convinced that any financial assistance to Ukraine should support the EUʼs defense industry, and not go directly to Kyivʼs defense needs.
This approach has drawn domestic criticism: officials warn that it could prevent Ukraine from defending itself effectively.
- In December 2025, the EU agreed to €90 billion in aid for Ukraine over the next two years. This is an interest-free loan secured by the EU budget. Three EU countries will not participate in financing the guarantees: the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
- Previously, the EU discussed the option of a loan using frozen Russian money, but the bloc never reached an agreement on this issue. The main opponent was Belgium, because it is in the Belgian Euroclear that these funds are stored. The country fears a lawsuit from Russia.
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