Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said he and the Belgian prime minister agree that the European Commission must find alternative ways to finance Ukraine, arguing that the Czech treasury is empty and every crown is needed for Czech citizens. He stated that the Czech Republic will not provide financial guarantees or funds for Ukraine under the current conditions.

🇪🇺 EU Foreign Chief Kaja Kallas confirms: the EU has indefinitely immobilized up to €210 billion in Russian assets, a major step to ensure they remain frozen unless Russia pays full reparations to Ukraine. The pressure on Moscow keeps building ahead of next week's European Council.

The Trump administration has effectively given Ukraine the green light to strike Russia’s “shadow fleet” in international waters, The Atlantic reports. Under Biden, the U.S. had resisted such attacks over escalation concerns, but Trump has allowed strikes on Russian oil logistics and in some cases provided Ukraine with intelligence used to target energy infrastructure. Over recent weeks, Ukraine has hit five Russian shadow‑fleet tankers in the Black Sea.

🇪🇺🇺🇦 The European Commission plans to allocate €90 billion in budget support to Ukraine for 2026–2027, according to budget committee head Roksolana Pidlasa. Under the draft "reparations loan" plan, aid would be split between defense production/procurement (in Ukraine & EU) and macro-financial support.