The European Union has released €3.47 billion ($4 billion) to Ukraine to help finance the purchase of drones, missiles, air defence systems and Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets, the European Commission has announced.
The payment forms part of the €90 billion ($103 billion) Ukraine Support Loan approved by the bloc earlier this year. The loan is part of a wider package allocating roughly €60 billion to defence procurement and €30 billion to direct budget support for Kyiv.
It follows two earlier payments: a €3.2 billion ($3.67 billion) instalment on 25 June to support Ukraine's general government financing, and €3.9 billion ($4.48 billion) transferred on 30 June specifically for drone procurement.
A European Commission spokesperson told reporters that a further €1.1 billion ($1.26 billion) has been allocated to other defence procurement, bringing total disbursements for defence purposes to €8.5 billion ($9.75 billion) so far. The Commission expects to transfer €28 billion ($32.13 billion) for defence by the end of the year.
The latest payments come amid a broader push to deepen EU-Ukraine defence-industrial ties.
In mid-July, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travelled to Kyiv, where she and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a new EU-Ukraine Defence Industrial Partnership alongside a dedicated 'Drone Deal', aimed at integrating Ukrainian battlefield expertise with European industrial capacity.
The visit also included a separate €1 billion ($1.15 billion) disbursement for drone capabilities. Since then, further funding tranches have been unlocked under the same €90 billion ($103 billion) loan and the EU's SAFE defence loans programme, covering additional drone systems, deep-strike missiles and the acquisition of Gripen fighter jets.
The €90 billion ($103 billion) loan was politically stalled in early 2026 because of a Hungarian veto before securing the backing of member states later in the year, clearing the way for the accelerated pace of disbursements now under way.
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Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Russia is open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, but any proposals should reflect the "realities on the ground".
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