Prince Harry makes surprise appearance at Kyiv Security Forum as EU gives Ukraine $147 billion funding boost
London: Ukraine has gained a $147 billion funding boost to turn back Russian forces after a deadlock over European financial support, as Prince Harry conducts a surprise visit to Kyiv and calls for American leadership to end the war.
The new funding comes as Ukrainian leaders harden their message about potential ceasefire terms, with presidential adviser Kyrylo Budanov declaring the country would not give up a “single millimetre” of its territory.
Russian military chief Valery Gerasimov claimed this week that Russia had taken 1700 square kilometres during the fighting so far this year, but expert observers dismissed the estimate and said Ukraine was inflicting significant damage on its enemy.
Harry arrived in the Ukrainian capital with no public notice to address the Kyiv Security Forum, where he said he was speaking as a former soldier rather than a political figure.
In a key message to US President Donald Trump and other American leaders, Harry said the US had been part of the assurance offered to Ukraine about its security when it gave up its nuclear weapons after the Cold War, leaving it exposed to Russian aggression today.
“This is a moment for American leadership. A moment for America to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations,” he said. “Not out of charity, but out of its enduring role in global security and strategic stability.”
Harry has visited Ukraine several times, including visits to medical facilities such as the Superhumans centre in Lviv where soldiers are fitted with prosthetic limbs, given his work with the Invictus Games for soldiers with disabilities.
In a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the prince said there was “still a moment” to stop the war now and choose a different course.
Russia claims to be succeeding in the war and has gained temporary relief from US sanctions on its oil exports under a controversial decision by the Trump administration last week.
“Since the beginning of this year, a total of 80 settlements and more than 1700 square kilometres of territory have come under our control,” said Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the Russian forces, in comments reported by Reuters on Tuesday.
The Institute for the Study of War, an independent non-profit group, dismissed Gerasimov’s claim as “greatly exaggerated” and said he was probably trying to obscure Russia’s lack of progress.
A report by the institute early last month said Russia had occupied 19.4 per cent of Ukrainian territory, compared with 26.8 per cent shortly after the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“Subsequent Ukrainian counteroffensives left the Russians holding only about 17.9 per cent of Ukraine in November that year,” the institute said of the situation in 2022.
“Since then, Russia has seized only 1.5 per cent more Ukrainian land while suffering over one million casualties in total.
“Russia has needed three and a half years to seize 9318 square kilometres, an area smaller than Lebanon or Los Angeles County.”
The European Union ended months of dispute over funding for Ukraine by reaching a formal agreement in Cyprus on Thursday (late on Wednesday, AEST) to lend the country €90 billion (about $147 billion).
The funding package was decided last year but blocked by Hungarian leader Viktor Orban under rules that required a consensus among leaders.
The election of a new Hungarian prime minister, Peter Magyar, cleared the way for the funds to be released, helped by a Ukrainian decision to resume oil flows from Russia to Hungary through a pipeline across its territory.
“We have secured Ukraine’s financial resilience for two years,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the formal decision.
EU leaders hailed the funding deal as a sign of unity against Russia, with French President Emmanuel Macron talking of a “more sovereign Europe” and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal warning that peace would not come from compromise with the aggressor.
“We will provide Ukraine what it needs to hold its ground, until Putin understands his war leads nowhere,” said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas.
Trump sought to negotiate a peace deal with Putin, but the talks have dragged on without any substantial progress on Russia’s demand for large amounts of Ukrainian territory.
Budanov, one of Zelensky’s top aides as head of the office of the president, said the negotiation process was sensitive and could not be disclosed, but he indicated there was no compromise on territory.
“There will be no acceptance in Ukraine of losing even a single millimetre of our territory,” he told the Kyiv Security Forum.
David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.