Brussels to urge UK to increase support for Ukraine as 2027 funding gap looms

European Union leaders will press Andy Burnham to increase Britain's contribution to Ukraine's defence effort in 2027 when the prime minister attends a summit in Brussels, arguing that the UK, Canada and Japan should do more to support Kyiv.

Entreaties to those G7 countries for extra financial aid at recent international meetings have not been answered, Brussels says. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will call on the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, to help cover Ukraine's looming financial shortfall at an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next week. A similar request will be made to Burnham when he meets von der Leyen and the European Council president, António Costa, at a long-awaited EU-UK summit on 20 November.

The timing is delicate for the British government, with the chancellor, John Healey, preparing his first budget next week as he weighs calls for more spending against rising government borrowing costs and a darkening economic outlook. Healey said earlier this month he was "working on different ways we can step up support for Ukraine: military, diplomatic and economic".

Ukraine says it faces a €70bn (£58bn) funding shortfall in 2027 to pay for its defence and civilian needs. The EU and its member states are paying for 80% of Ukraine's financial needs, according to the commission, which considers a "fair" EU share to be two-thirds, with the remaining third covered by other allies. "We will continue to lead, but we urgently need other partners to step up," von der Leyen told reporters last week, without naming countries.

The EU last year agreed a €90bn loan for Ukraine, meant to cover two-thirds of Kyiv's funding in 2026 and 2027. But as Russia escalates its attacks, dragging the war into its fifth winter, Ukraine's costs continue to spiral. Officials have prioritised the non-EU G7 members, above all the UK, Canada and Japan, but are casting the net wider and may look to Switzerland, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand for additional aid.

The British government says it has committed £25bn to Ukraine, including £16bn in military aid. The UK is Ukraine's fourth largest donor, behind the US, Germany and France, according to the Kiel Institute's Ukraine Support Tracker. Weighted by GDP, however, the UK was assessed at 0.86% of national income, compared with 1.1% from France and 1.5% from Germany, far below Denmark (4.2%) and Estonia (3.8%). The UK is more in line with France and Germany once their contribution to EU programmes is stripped out.

Ukraine will be one of several issues at the summit, where leaders are expected to conclude three agreements: a food and animal health (SPS) deal to reduce Brexit paperwork, linkage of the EU and UK emissions trading schemes (ETS) to protect British industry from European carbon taxes, and a youth mobility scheme enabling people aged 18 to 30 to live, work, travel and study across the Channel.

In a positive sign for British negotiators, the commission proposed deferring the question of university tuition fees, one of the last big sticking points, to technical talks within six months of the 20 November summit rather than risk derailing the leaders' meeting. The UK wants to charge EU students the international rate, about four times the domestic fee; the EU wants a return to the pre-Brexit status quo, when EU students paid home rates.

Senior EU sources are confident of retaining leverage, since the SPS and ETS deals will not come into force until there is a youth mobility agreement acceptable to the European side, including on fees. "The three elements are a sort of gift to the UK, but not a massive gift," an EU diplomat said, adding: "The leverage is that the UK needs this." A second diplomat said there was no consensus among the EU's 27 member states on postponement: "There is no clear majority saying 'let's drop it now for six months'."