Shmyhal: Ukraine needs US$6bn to buy weapons and take war back to Russia
Ukraine’s new defence minister, Denys Shmyhal, says Ukraine needs US$6 billion to cover its defence procurement needs in 2025 and bring the war back to Russian territory.
"Ukraine needs US$6 billion to close this year's procurement gap. This will allow us to build more FPV drones to hold the line, more interceptor drones to counter Shahed attacks and additional deep strike weapons to take the war back to Russia," Shmyhal said during a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
Shmyhal also emphasised the importance of securing financial commitments from partners for 2026.
"I call upon our partners to allocate funds for Ukraine in their 2026 budget proposals starting now," he said.
Shmyhal appealed to the members of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group to urgently procure US-made Patriot air defence systems and PAC-3 missiles for Ukraine’s armed forces.
On 21 July, 52 countries attended the Ramstein meeting, which launched a 50-day campaign to arm Ukraine.
During the meeting, it was announced that the US and Germany have agreed to supply Ukraine with five Patriot air defence systems, which are to be delivered to the battlefield as soon as possible.
In addition, the UK and Germany launched a joint project to provide Ukraine with 220,000 rounds for the German Gepard anti-aircraft system. Both countries will also fund supplies of advanced drones to the battlefield.