OPEN LETTER: To the Europe that finally sends its €3.2 billion — Ukraine is asking for more

Introduction: a letter from the edge of the precipice

June 25 in Gdańsk: a historic moment, but not enough

On June 25, 2026, at the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Gdańsk, the European Union disbursed the first tranche of a historic loan: €3.2 billion from a total program of €90 billion planned for 2026–2027. That gesture is concrete, it is real, it is being welcomed. And yet this open letter is not a thank-you note.

It is a call. An appeal. A demand formulated with respect, but with urgency. Because Ukraine cannot reconstruct itself while it is still burning — and Vladimir Putin keeps striking.

Who this letter is addressed to

This letter is addressed to the European leaders who signed the Gdańsk commitments. To the Brussels commissioners who designed the €90 billion program. To the finance ministers who calculated the tranches. And to the European citizens who fund, through their taxes, this act of solidarity. It is addressed to all of you — not to assign blame, but to tell you what the numbers alone do not convey.

What €3.2 billion represents in concrete terms

A first step in a colossal program

The figure of €3.2 billion in a single disbursement is objectively substantial. It sits within a program structured in two pillars: €30 billion in macro-financial assistance to support the functioning of the Ukrainian state, and €60 billion for defense. This financial architecture means Europe is treating support for Ukraine not as emergency charity but as a strategic investment in continental security.

Ukraine's 2026 budget law, signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 22, 2026 following its adoption by the Rada, provides for an increase in security and defense spending of 1,560 billion UAH, of which 1,300 billion UAH is earmarked for arms procurement. Ukraine is not spending European aid on current expenses — it is converting it into military capability.

The €5.9 billion for drones: a technical delay, not an abandonment

The €5.9 billion originally earmarked for drones was not included in this first disbursement due to technical reasons of supply logistics. This delay is not a political retreat, but it illustrates the bureaucratic complexities that inevitably slow the transformation of financial aid into operational capability in the field. And every week of delay costs lives.

What Europe is not yet disbursing — and should

The need for 300 additional missiles

On June 19, 2026, President Zelensky stated publicly: Ukraine needs at least 300 additional missiles to prepare for winter, along with €6 billion more from the European Peace Facility (EPF). These figures are not invented — they result from a military assessment of what is needed to maintain Ukraine's capacity to resist Russian winter bombardment campaigns.

Winter is a weapon Russia uses deliberately — striking power plants, district heating networks, civilian infrastructure at the moment when temperatures make survival harder. It is a calculated terror strategy. The only adequate response is reinforced air defense capability. And that costs missiles. A great many missiles.

The EPF and its structural limits

The European Peace Facility, the extra-budgetary mechanism created precisely to fund military deliveries that the EU's regular budget cannot cover, has shown its limitations. Discussions on its recapitalization have dragged on. Disagreements between member states over funding conditions have slowed decisions. Meanwhile, Ukrainian stocks are shrinking.

Gdańsk as a symbol of Polish solidarity

Why Poland, why Gdańsk

The choice of Gdańsk as the host city for the reconstruction conference is not accidental. Gdańsk is the birthplace of the Solidarity movement. It is where, in 1980, shipyard workers defied a totalitarian empire — and won. Holding a conference on the reconstruction of a country at war in that city is to situate support for Kyiv within a long tradition of European resistance to Russian oppression.

Poland is not just a neighboring country to Ukraine — it is a country that viscerally understands what it means to live on the frontier of Russian influence. Its presence in the European E5, its role as host of this conference: all of it says something essential about the geopolitics of support for Ukraine.

Bloomberg and "Ukraine's newfound strength"

In Gdańsk, the atmosphere was not merely one of charity — it was one of renewed confidence. Bloomberg headlined on June 25, 2026 that Europe was "lauding Ukraine's newfound strength" as disbursements began. This perception — Ukraine no longer as victim but as an actor in its own defense and reconstruction — is a fundamental narrative shift.

The destruction of 60,000 tonnes of Russian ammunition

A battlefield fact buried beneath the conference

On June 24, 2026, on the eve of the Gdańsk conference, a crucial piece of military intelligence was made public: Ukraine had destroyed more than 60,000 tonnes of ammunition at the Baltic Fleet arsenal near Saint Petersburg. That is an extraordinary deep-strike operation — hitting Russian logistical depots on Russian territory, hundreds of kilometers behind the front.

This operation illustrates precisely why Ukraine needs long-range strike capabilities, and why the 300 missiles Zelensky is requesting are not military hyperbole — they are the tools of a defensive strategy that works by striking the sources of enemy fire rather than waiting for the impact.

Reconstruction cannot wait for peace

Reconstruction conferences generally assume that rebuilding happens after the war. What is happening in Gdańsk is different: the groundwork for reconstruction is being laid during the war, betting on Ukrainian resilience and on the eventual — someday — arrival of a ceasefire. That is a reasonable but risky gamble. Russia can deliberately target reconstructed infrastructure to discourage investors and demonstrate the futility of Western efforts. Air defense is therefore not separable from reconstruction — it is its prerequisite.

What we owe Ukrainians — morally

A debt of values, not just money

The €90 billion in aid is imposing. But it is also, fundamentally, an acknowledgment of what Europe owes Ukraine — not in money, but in values. Ukraine is fighting for the same principles enshrined in the Treaty of Rome, in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in the ECHR's commitments. It is fighting for the sovereignty of nations, for the right of peoples to choose their own destiny, for democracy over autocracy.

If Europe does not defend these values when they are under attack on its own doorstep, it defends them nowhere. The €3.2 billion from Gdańsk is not charity — it is an investment in the credibility of the European project itself.

The memory of what cowardice costs

Europe has a long memory of the consequences of complicity in the face of aggression. The Munich Agreement of 1938 taught a lesson that subsequent generations swore never to forget. This Gdańsk conference, in this city of resistance, is an opportunity to prove that the lesson was learned — that democratic Europe chooses commitment over appeasement.

What Europe must do now

Accelerate the remaining disbursements

The remaining €86.8 billion of the €90 billion program must be unlocked on a clear and predictable schedule, with no further bureaucratic delays. Ukraine needs predictability to plan its reconstruction and weapons procurement. Uncertainty about future disbursements weakens Ukrainian planning capacity just as much as an actual shortfall of funds.

Releasing the €5.9 billion for drones must be a priority — not only because drones are the defining weapon of this war, but because Ukraine has demonstrated its capacity to produce and deploy them with creativity and effectiveness.

Coordinate defense and reconstruction

Europe must understand that the €60 billion defense pillar of the program is inseparable from the €30 billion in macro-financial aid. A Ukraine that cannot defend itself cannot rebuild itself. The two pillars are linked — and must be treated as such in Brussels' political and logistical coordination.

Reconstruction as an act of political resistance

Rebuilding during war: a deliberate strategy

The decision to hold a reconstruction conference while the war is still active is not naivety. It is a deliberate political strategy. It tells Putin: your bombs cannot stop our will to build. It tells Ukrainian citizens: your future does not depend on Moscow's goodwill. And it tells international investors: betting on Ukraine is a bet on victory, not merely on survival against Russian aggression.

This logic of constructive resistance is one of the most powerful ideas Zelensky has developed since the war began. Every piece of infrastructure rebuilt is an assertion of sovereignty. Every renovated school, every power station brought back online, every bridge rebuilt is a symbolic victory as much as a practical necessity for the 23 million Ukrainians still living on their territory.

The psychological dimension of international aid

Beyond the budget figures — the €3.2 billion disbursed on June 25, the €90 billion pledged for 2026–2027 — international aid has a crucial psychological dimension. It tells Ukrainian soldiers in the trenches: you are not alone. It tells displaced families: your home will be rebuilt. It tells the civil servants keeping the state running under bombardment: your work is supported, recognized and durably funded.

This moral and psychological dimension of aid is no less important than its direct economic value. The resilience of a people is not only a matter of material resources — it is also a matter of the deep conviction that the democratic world is on their side and will not abandon them when international attention turns elsewhere.

Conclusion: Gdańsk is a beginning, not an end

What the €3.2 billion cannot buy

The €3.2 billion disbursed on June 25, 2026 in Gdańsk is real, significant and welcome. It cannot buy peace. It cannot bring back the dead. It cannot undo the destruction accumulated since February 24, 2022. But it can buy time — time for Ukraine to hold, to push back, to rebuild, and ultimately to win.

Europe living up to its own history

Democratic Europe has a unique opportunity to show it is equal to its own values. The Gdańsk conference is a powerful symbol. But symbols without substance are hollow. What Ukraine needs now is for Europe to turn its commitments into action — swiftly, completely, without the usual bureaucratic delays that cost Ukrainian lives. Time is pressing. Putin does not pause for conferences.

Signed Maxime Marquette, columnist

Columnist's transparency box

This open letter is grounded in facts documented in the lot file. No testimony was invented. The opinions expressed — particularly in the editorial passages in italics — are those of the columnist and represent a stated, acknowledged viewpoint. The pro-Ukrainian position of this article is deliberate and transparent. The figures cited come from dated and verifiable sources listed in the Sources section.

Sources

Primary sources

RBC Ukraine: EU Commission announces first tranche of the €90 billion loan — June 25, 2026

United24 Media: Ukraine to receive €3.2 billion budget tranche as EU resolves drone procurement logistics — June 24, 2026

Interfax Ukraine: Zelensky signs law amending the 2026 State budget — June 22, 2026

Secondary sources

UA News: EU delays drone funding for Ukraine — June 24, 2026

Bloomberg: Europe lauds Ukraine's newfound strength as aid payouts begin — June 25, 2026

Euronews: Europe's five largest military powers meet ahead of NATO summit — June 24, 2026

Anewz: Ukraine presses EU for membership and sanctions on Russia — June 19, 2026