Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron in Yerevan, Armenia, on May 4, 2026. (AFP / LUDOVIC MARIN)
The United Kingdom hopes that its military equipment manufacturers will benefit from Ukrainian orders financed by the €90 billion loan granted by the European Union to Kyiv. On Monday, May 4, negotiations with Brussels on this matter were announced.
This EU loan, definitively approved in April after the lifting of a Hungarian veto, “is a very good thing for Ukraine, as it will provide capacities that are desperately needed in this fifth year of conflict,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the press during a European summit in Armenia.
“It is also very positive for the United Kingdom, as these capacities will translate into jobs in the UK, and it is very good for the relations between the UK and the EU,” he added, announcing the upcoming opening of these discussions.
“Preference for the European industry”
Questioned in Brussels, a spokesperson for the European Commission praised a “strong political signal from the United Kingdom,” while specifying that the exact terms of this cooperation with London remained to be clarified, especially on the financial level.
The EU plans to grant Ukraine a €90 billion loan, which will be disbursed in installments in 2026 and 2027, of which €60 billion will be used for the supply of weapons.
A preference has been given to the European defense industry for these weapons, but exceptions are provided for certain countries if they have signed a defense and security partnership with the EU and are already major contributors to military aid to Ukraine.
This is the case with Great Britain, which, to benefit from such industrial benefits, will have to pay an entry fee to the EU. This will involve absorbing a portion of the interests owed by the 24 countries in the bloc (out of a total of 27) that will finance this loan.
These interests are expected to amount to several billion euros per year.
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