The EU will use a special emergency assistance mechanism to accelerate funding for Ukraine’s most urgent needs, President Volodymyr Zelensky said after speaking with Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement comes as Russian strikes disrupt electricity, water, and heating supplies. The leaders also discussed winter aid, EU accession, and preparations for talks in Abu Dhabi.
by Kyiv Post
November 9, 2026
The EU will use a special emergency assistance mechanism to speed funding for Ukraine’s urgent needs following Russian attacks on essential utilities, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday, Nov. 9.
Zelensky announced the agreement in a Telegram post after speaking with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, saying their teams were already working on its implementation. “I told Ursula about the challenges, and we agreed that the EU would use a special mechanism for emergency assistance,” Zelensky said. “This will make it possible to quickly provide Ukraine with funding for what is needed most right now.” He did not identify the mechanism by its formal name, specify the funding available, or announce a date for disbursement.
The president described conditions in many Ukrainian cities and communities as extremely difficult because Russian strikes had disrupted electricity, water, and heating.
The situation was most severe in Kyiv, the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Donetsk regions, and the city of Kherson, he said.
Emergency support follows repeated utility outages
Zelensky and von der Leyen also discussed additional energy and humanitarian assistance to help Ukraine prepare for winter. The announcement follows repeated attacks that have damaged generating facilities and electricity networks, disrupting services that depend on reliable power.
A Russian strike on an energy facility in Zhytomyr on Friday, Nov. 6 worsened Kyiv’s power supply and reduced water pressure in the capital, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Kyivvodokanal began switching its facilities to generators wherever possible.
Ukrainians who flee the war and come to live in Britain should have the chance to get credit for their knowledge of Ukrainian. Now they will.
That disruption followed renewed water outages across Kyiv on Thursday, Nov. 5, a day after authorities had announced that supplies were fully restored.
Earlier, the massive Russian attack overnight on Nov. 2-3 knocked three DTEK power plants offline, forcing emergency electricity cuts in Kyiv, the surrounding region, and the Dnipropetrovsk region.
On Thursday, Nov. 6, Zelensky warned that intelligence indicated Russia was preparing further infrastructure strikes, including attacks on energy facilities and bridges across the Dnipro River. He urged partners to accelerate deliveries of Patriot interceptor missiles.
Kyiv seeks further progress toward EU membership
The call also covered Ukraine’s accession to the EU following the European Commission’s annual enlargement report, published the previous week.
Zelensky described the assessment of Ukraine’s progress as positive and said the next priorities were opening all negotiating clusters and beginning to close individual chapters.
Ukraine aims to close 7 accession chapters provisionally in the first half of 2027. Its government also wants the remaining negotiating clusters opened before the end of 2026.
Those milestones would advance the membership process, but neither would establish an accession date. Closing chapters requires assessments of Ukraine’s compliance with EU requirements and agreement among member states.
Leaders coordinate ahead of Abu Dhabi talks
Zelensky said he and von der Leyen also coordinated their positions ahead of the planned trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi. He pointed to recent negotiations in Brussels, where Ukrainian and partner teams worked on postwar reconstruction and European security guarantees.
On Nov. 4, Ukrainian representatives discussed reconstruction with officials from the US, EU, France, Britain, Germany, NATO, and the World Bank, alongside business representatives. Further consultations focused on security guarantees.
Zelensky also held a 90-minute call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ahead of the Ukraine-US-Russia negotiations scheduled for Nov. 10-11.
During that conversation, he presented Ukraine’s proposals to Washington and raised the urgent need for air defense ammunition. “We are doing everything to ensure that the trilateral format delivers results,” Zelensky said after his conversation with von der Leyen.