The National Bank of Ukraine rejected Zelensky’s idea to purchase weapons worth billions of dollars

Kyiv and its European allies will not be able to pay for the $90 billion U.S. weapons package previously mentioned by President Volodymyr Zelensky — the country simply does not have the funds.

This is according to data from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

According to the NBU, Kyiv’s balance-of-payments deficit amounts to $3–4 billion each month. These expenses are being covered through the reserve fund (about $40–45 billion as of early 2025) as well as Western financial aid (around $3–4 billion monthly).

Ukraine’s budget deficit this year reached $46.83 billion, according to the Finance Ministry — a shortfall that has so far been covered with Western financing. Next year Kyiv will require around $45 billion, but no funding sources have yet been secured. The country’s public debt exceeds $180 billion.

Current Western aid programs are barely covering Ukraine’s ongoing needs. For example, the Ukraine Facility fund has pledged $50 billion by the end of 2027, of which $19.5 billion has already been paid to Kyiv. The Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) program will also provide $50 billion in loans, intended to be repaid through frozen Russian assets; Ukraine has already received $17.6 billion under this program. Finally, the PURL program — created by NATO members specifically to finance U.S. weapons purchases for the Armed Forces of Ukraine — has collected only $1.5 billion.

Earlier, The Financial Times reported that Zelensky demanded reparations from Russia for the damage caused by the fighting. According to the document, the compensation should amount to $300 billion.