Geopolitics
Dropped by Trump, Zelensky asks Europeans for 70 billion
At the Brussels summit, Volodymyr Zelensky asked for 70 billion euros more for 2027, just as Donald Trump finds him harder to deal with than Putin.
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A year ago, Europe thought it had settled the bill: a 90-billion-euro loan was to cover 2026 and 2027. On Friday in Brussels, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, asked for 70 billion more for next year. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, confirms the gap: it “will have to be filled”.
Harder than Putin, says Washington
In Washington, Donald Trump finds Zelensky “more difficult” to deal with than Vladimir Putin, demands new elections in Ukraine and calls Kyiv’s strikes on Russian refineries a “disgrace”. He has also eased sanctions on Russian diesel, a move Emmanuel Macron calls “inappropriate, ineffective”.
Zelensky keeps his cool: “it is easier to deal with him than with Putin”, he tells Euronews. The Twenty-Seven keep sanctions in place and ask the Commission to find the money. Joint debt, frozen Russian assets, national cheques: every option divides.
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“We will not let Ukraine down,” promises Emmanuel Macron. The figure will have to wait: it is “too early to put a number on it”. What is a promise worth, when nobody wants to pay its price?
Based on France 24, Le Monde international and Euronews