Zelensky says €1.24bn EU defence tranche has arrived, about €3bn more due next week

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that a €1.24 billion ($1.4 billion) European Union defence tranche has already arrived in Ukraine, and that about €3 billion more in military support is due to be allocated next week.

Zelensky made the announcement on his official Telegram channel on 11 October after what he described as a "very detailed" conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The figures come from Zelensky's account. The European Commission had not confirmed them in the source material, and the funding instrument was not specified.

Military support

Zelensky said he thanked von der Leyen for the recent €1.24 billion defence tranche. He also thanked her for confirming that about €3 billion more in military support would be allocated "as early as next week". "This is money that will strengthen us," he wrote.

He said the two leaders covered practically all current areas of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, as well as the decisions needed to support Ukraine. Their teams will hold substantive talks on further joint action and the coordination of steps, he said.

Accession talks

Zelensky also said Ukraine is preparing for the opening of further clusters in its EU accession negotiations, with the aim of having all remaining clusters opened by the end of the year. In the EU enlargement process, negotiations are organised into thematic groups of policy areas, known as clusters. Opening a cluster is a formal step that lets detailed talks on those areas begin.

"Ukraine's European path is a path of strengthening Europe itself," Zelensky said.

Strikes on energy infrastructure

Zelensky said he also briefed von der Leyen on continuing Russian attacks. According to him, shortly before the call a Shahed attack drone hit a power plant in Kyiv, leaving many districts without electricity. He said energy facilities in the Kharkiv region were struck later.

He noted that this happened after a statement by the US president on an "energy ceasefire". Zelensky's account of the strikes could not be independently verified from the source material, and Russia's response was not included.

"In such conditions, reliable support from our partners is real protection of life and a guarantee that the Russians will not be able to break Ukraine," he said.

What happens next

The next steps are the allocation of the additional funds, which Zelensky said is expected next week, and the planned talks between Ukrainian and EU teams. Any decision on opening more accession clusters would require formal action by EU member states. No dates were given in the source.