Zelenskyy: We will have many times fewer drones and no long-range strikes without a reparations loan

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will significantly reduce the production of drones, in particular for the front line, and will not be able to inflict long-range strikes on the energy sector of the Russian Federation if it does not receive money from the reparations loan at the expense of Moscow's frozen assets. This was stated by the head of state said during a press conference in Brussels.

Zelenskyy explained that in the event of peace, Ukraine would use these funds to rebuild the state, but if the war continues, it will spend them on its priorities, primarily on the production of drones.

"If this tranche does not arrive [in the spring of 2026], Ukraine's drone production will be reduced by several times," the president said.

As for cheap drones for the battlefield, Ukraine now has a number of such drones roughly comparable to Russia's, but without funding, there will be "much fewer of them," the head of state explained.

Regarding the deep strike weapons that Ukraine uses to strike the occupiers' energy sector, Zelenskyy said: "And they [long-range capabilities] work in the same way, but on our part, as sanctions packages on energy [from] our European and American partners. We, for our part, are doing everything to reduce Russia's energy resource. All this will simply not happen. That's the answer".

Earlier, the head of state said that Kyiv will be in a weaker position if it does not receive a reparations loan: in this case, the dictator Vladimir Putin will have a greater "temptation" to seize Ukraine and will not want the war to end diplomatically.

• on December 18, the EU leaders' summit starts in Brussels, where arrived and the Ukrainian leader.
• European Commission president von der Leyen said that the event will continue until EU leaders decide on funding for Ukraine – we are talking about EUR 90 billion for two years.