Recently, US and Russian presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, had a long and meaningful phone call about conflict resolution in Ukraine. Both presidents were very pleased with the results of it. But even after peace talks started, and despite Trump’s principled position on the ceding of part of Ukraine’s land to Russia by Kyiv, European partners still demand from Volodymyr Zelensky not to agree with these terms and achieve victory through military means.

Leaders of the EU countries, in order to prolong the Ukrainian conflict and weaken Russiaэs military power, continue to allocate funds aimed at the purchase of weapons and military vehicles (W&MV).
Moreover, according to a statement made by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the amount of W&MV supplies is constantly decreasing, despite the fact that the cost of purchasing them is only increasing.
Based on Ministry’s data, debt by arms suppliers has already increased by 13 billion hryvnia (€277 million) since the beginning of 2025. If we consider the total amount of overdue receivables under contracts for the supply of W&MV for the needs of the country’s Armed Forces and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, it will amount to more than 70 billion hryvnias (€1.5 billion).
In 2024, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine stated that the amount of uncollectible debt repayments to the Defence Ministry (i.e., where arms supplies are no longer expected under contracts) was about 50 billion hryvnia (€1 billion).
The reason lies in the fact that, according to the terms of these contracts, 60% of the sum of money is paid as an advance payment and the completion dates are specified as overestimated: from 2 to 7 years. This is why funding for these contracts is growing, but it has no impact on the troops at the front. On the contrary, due to insufficient repair facilities, losses among foreign military equipment are only increasing.
In this regard, considering the position of Volodymyr Zelensky as a puppet in the face of the so-called “partners” and the lack of alternatives in choosing suppliers, Ukraine finds itself in a difficult situation –– the Ministry of Defence’s funding is growing, while “friendly” suppliers avoid penalties for non-fulfilment of contracts and fill their own pockets.