Europe vows billions in support for Kyiv as US envoy meets Putin

European countries vowed on Friday to sends billions of dollars in further funding to help Ukraine keep fighting Russia’s invasion, as a US envoy pursued peace efforts in a trip to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid growing questions about the Kremlin’s willingness to stop the more than three-year war.

After chairing a meeting of Ukraine’s Western backers in Brussels, British Defence Secretary John Healey said that new pledges of military aid totalled over 21 billion euros (USD 24 billion), “a record boost in military funding for Ukraine, and we are also surging that support to the frontline fight”.

Healey gave no breakdown of that figure, and Ukraine has in the past complained that some countries repeat old offers at such pledging conferences or fail to deliver real arms and ammunition worth the money they promise.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said last week that Ukraine’s backers have provided around USD 21 billion so far in the first three months of this year. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Friday that more than USD 26 billion have been committed.

In Moscow, meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was in Russia and would meet with Putin in St Petersburg. Witkoff, who has been pressing the Kremlin to accept a truce, initially met with Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“Given Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, we must concede (that) peace in Ukraine appears to be out of reach in the immediate future. We will ensure that Ukraine continues to benefit from our joint military support,” Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said after the meeting in Brussels.

Britain said that in a joint effort with Norway just over USD 580 million would be spent to provide hundreds of thousands of military drones, radar systems and anti-tank mines, as well as repair and maintenance contracts to keep Ukrainian armoured vehicles on the battlefield.

Zelenskyy has renewed his appeals for more Patriot systems since 20 people were killed a week ago.

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