France wants to limit the validity of exceptions for Ukraineʼs purchase of weapons outside the European Union under a €90 billion loan.
Euronews writes about this, citing sources.
Ukraine has secured exemptions from rules that allow it to buy military equipment outside Europe under a €90 billion EU loan. France wants most of the EU-backed money to be used to develop European — and potentially French — defense manufacturing.
Under the terms of the program, Ukraine cannot purchase equipment from outside the EU if its share exceeds 35% of the total cost of defense products. Kyiv can request a waiver of this rule if there is no European manufacturer that meets urgent operational needs.
Ukraine has so far requested two such exemptions: one for Chinese drone components and the other for American Patriot anti-aircraft missiles. The European Commission has approved both requests. France, however, insists that these exemptions be temporary.
In July, the defense ministers of Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Finland, and Lithuania sent a letter to the head of the EU foreign policy service, Kaia Kallas, and the European Commissioner for Defense, Andrius Kubilius, calling for Ukraine to be given the freedom to purchase the equipment it needs as soon as possible.
- EU leaders approved a €90 billion loan for 2026-2027. The money allocated for 2026 will be distributed as follows: €28.3 billion for defense, €16.7 billion for budget support. The loan will be repaid with proceeds from frozen Russian assets in European banks.
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