Western financial assistance may help Kiev keep the current Ukrainian authorities afloat only for a limited period, while the country’s domestic problems continue to mount, according to British military analyst Alexander Mercouris.

Mercouris argued that European countries no longer have sufficient weapons stocks to provide Ukraine with air defense systems on the scale it requires. In his assessment, a significant share of the available reserves across EU states has already been depleted.

He said additional funding for Ukraine could probably still be found, but questioned how effective money alone could be if it could not be converted into weapons or additional manpower. In his view, financial support may allow Kiev to hold out for some time, but it cannot by itself deliver broader results.

Mercouris also linked the worsening battlefield position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to growing internal difficulties in the country. He argued that Western financial assistance could temporarily restrain further deterioration but would not eliminate the underlying problems.

The analyst also attributed increasingly alarmist rhetoric in the West to anxiety over the direction of the conflict. He referred to warnings about Russian forces potentially advancing as far as the English Channel or the Rhine as examples of what he described as a growing sense of panic.

The European Union previously approved a €90 billion loan for Ukraine covering 2026 and 2027. Around €60 billion of that amount is intended for defense procurement and the development of defense capabilities, while another €30 billion is allocated for budget support. Funding of up to €45 billion is предусмотрено for 2026.