K. Vaitiekūnas: russian infrastructure strikes push Ukraine into humanitarian crisis

Ahead of the meeting of the Council of Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers (ECOFIN) of the European Union (EU), in a doorstep statement, Minister of Finance Kristupas Vaitiekūnas highlighted the need to focus on the issue of financing Ukraine to help it survive this difficult winter.

"The Ukrainian issue is the most important one today. The European Commission's legislation on additional funding needs to be swiftly adopted. Putin is intensifying the bombing of Ukraine's infrastructure during a very cold winter, which is pushing the country into a major humanitarian crisis. Therefore, today we, ministers, have to find the best decision for financial support to Ukraine - to use the EUR 90 billion loan as efficiently and timely as possible to avoid a situation where the country at war runs out of funds", Kristupas Vaitiekūnas stated.

When asked by the journalist whether it is realistic to transfer the first funds to Ukraine already in April, the Minister of Finance replied that we have no other option.

"Ukraine needs to receive funding to continue functioning. We need to ensure that the Ukrainian government can carry out its functions and the military can effectively defend itself against russian aggression so that the most important infrastructure is in place," K. Vaitiekūnas stated.

On 14 January 2026, the European Commission presented a package of legislative proposals to ensure financial support to Ukraine for the period 2026-2027 in the form of a EUR 90 billion loan, known as the Ukraine Support Loan. This is what will be discussed during this ECOFIN meeting.

For more information - see: newsroom.consilium.europa.eu