Total international aid allocated to Ukraine remained broadly stable in 2025 despite a full halt in U.S. support, as European countries and institutions sharply increased their contributions, according to new data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson offers a sober view of Europe’s relationship with Washington: cooperation remains necessary, but trust has been damaged. In an interview with POLITICO, he avoids personal judgments about Donald Trump, yet makes clear that recent U.S. pressure on allies—especially during the Greenland dispute—left a mark across Europe.

Sweden and Denmark are strengthening Ukraine’s air defence through a joint purchase of modern Tridon Mk 2 air defence guns. Deliveries are scheduled to begin within a year, and the initiative is expected to significantly enhance Ukraine’s ability to protect itself against drones, missiles and air attacks.

Ukraine’s economy is projected to continue growing modestly over the next two years, but economists warn that deep structural challenges and external imbalances will remain persistent. The Institute for Economic Research, together with the German Economic Team, forecasts that real GDP will expand by 2.1 % in 2026 and accelerate to 2.6 % in 2027, with private consumption and investment activity driving much of this momentum.

Ukraine’s decision to revoke and retender dozens of long-idle mining and energy licenses held by oligarch-linked companies could unlock billions of dollars in new investment and reshape the country’s strategic resource sector.

Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa, attends the opening of ReBuild Ukraine in Warsaw

After enduring the heaviest bombardment of its power grid since the war began, Ukraine is hitting back with growing precision. A sweeping campaign of drone strikes has knocked out nearly 40 percent of Russia’s oil refining capacity, driving exports to historic lows and forcing the Kremlin to ration fuel at home. With U.S. intelligence support and mounting economic pressure, Kyiv’s energy offensive is emerging as a decisive front—one that could bring Vladimir Putin’s war effort to the brink.

In an analysis published in The Economist, Europe’s financial support for Ukraine is reframed as a historic opportunity rather than a budgetary irritant. Wars may be fought with artillery, but they are won through economic endurance. Ukraine is approaching a severe liquidity crisis and could run out of funds by the end of February. Donald Trump’s halt to American aid has deepened the squeeze; prospects of a ceasefire have faded; and Russia’s drones continue to grind down what remains of Ukraine’s energy grid.

EU policymakers are now seriously considering a radical financial mechanism: turning Russia’s future war-reparation payments to Ukraine into immediate cash for Kyiv. The idea centres on the roughly $300bn in Russian state assets frozen after the 2022 invasion. Until now, the EU has only dared to seize the interest generated by the €200bn held in Europe, about €7bn a year, and repackage it into bonds whose proceeds flow to Ukraine. That is no longer enough.

Greece is moving to establish a joint venture, Atlantic, SEE LNG Trade S.A. formed by Depa Commercial and the AKTOR Group. The new entity will purchase LNG on the global market, import it to Greece, and sell it domestically and to regional partners, including Ukraine.

A Russian missile attack on October 25 destroyed the central warehouse and headquarters of one of Ukraine’s two largest pharmaceutical distributors, wiping out an estimated 20 percent of the country’s monthly stock of medicines and dealing one of the most severe blows to Ukraine’s business sector since the start of the full-scale war.

Sweden and Ukraine have taken a major step in their military-cooperation efforts, as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a Letter of Intent on cooperation in air capabilities.

A massive wave of Russian missile and drone strikes battered Ukraine’s energy and port infrastructure on Oct. 22, as Moscow intensified its campaign to plunge Ukrainians into darkness ahead of winter.

Delegates to the Swedish Pavilion are warmly invited to a special conversation with Alex Voronov – one of Sweden’s most experienced and insightful journalists covering Ukraine. For more than two decades, Voronov has followed Ukraine’s political and social transformation, from its early democratic struggles to the full-scale Russian invasion that now defines Europe’s security landscape.

The Baltic Sea, once a quiet trade route, has become one of Europe’s most volatile flashpoints — with Sweden at its center. Russian submarines patrol its depths, GPS signals are jammed, and undersea cables sabotaged.

“This is no coincidence,” says Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson. “Russia’s war against Ukraine — and the West — has turned the Baltic into a frontline of hybrid warfare.”

European and allied defense partners meeting in Stockholm have agreed to accelerate the delivery and procurement of digital technologies for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The decision came at the 11th meeting of the IT Coalition, one of the capability coalitions operating under the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein format).

For the third year in a row, Swedish companies and organizations will gather in Warsaw for ReBuild Ukraine – Construction & Energy, one of Europe’s central meeting points for Ukraine’s reconstruction. This year marks a new chapter as Business Sweden takes over the official hosting of the Swedish Pavilion.

Oleksandr Tsyvinsky, Ukraine’s new head of the Economic Security Bureau, has vowed to turn a notoriously corrupt agency into a genuine weapon against the country’s vast shadow economy. A former anti-corruption detective with a record of tackling high-risk cases, he says reform must start from within: fair pay to deter bribery, strict discipline, and a functioning whistleblower system. “Rebooting the bureau will irritate some people,” Tsyvinsky said. “An effective bureau means illegitimate businesses lose money. The inevitability of punishment is the best deterrent — we don’t need a hundred cases, just a few that change the system.”

Ukraine will receive Swedish-built Gripen fighter jets to reinforce its air defenses, Deputy Defence Minister Lt. Gen. Ivan Havrylyuk confirmed, calling them part of upcoming deliveries. Built by Saab, the Gripen is a lightweight, multirole supersonic jet valued for agility, low cost, and the ability to operate from short or improvised runways — traits well suited to Ukraine’s conditions.

The aircraft joins Ukraine’s expanding Western fleet alongside F-16s. Sweden operates nearly 100 Gripens, while the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa, Thailand, and Brazil also use them. Cheaper to buy and maintain than the F-35, the Gripen offers a flexible, high-performance option as Ukraine modernizes its air force amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Early in the 2022 invasion, Bayraktar TB2s and laser-guided mini-munitions delivered crippling blows to Russian logistics, air-defence systems and naval assets—exploiting gaps in frontline air defences. Today the TB2’s mission has shifted toward long-range reconnaissance and fire correction, but laser-guided weapons remain crucial because they resist jamming: a laser simply designates the target and the weapon homes in. Traditionally this required aircraft or risky ground teams to paint targets, so Ukraine has swiftly moved to outfit drones with laser-designation systems—combining remote persistence with precision strikes while reducing the danger to personnel.