Ukraine is expecting to sign more than 160 defense, business and regional development agreements worth over €10 billion over the next couple of days, the country's prime minister, Yulia Syvyrdenko, said in Poland on Thursday.
"The challenges facing our continent are existential," she said at the opening of the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference in the Baltic port city of Gdansk. "We're forced to to survive. This has become our superpower."
Coinciding with the start of the conference, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry confirmed receipt of the first €3.2-billion ($3.63-billion) tranche of a €90-billion ($102-billion) European Union loan to Ukraine, which it intends to spend not only on defense and security but also on energy resilience.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, also in attendance, reasserted the EU's financial commitment to Ukraine and said a second tranche of €6 billion would follow "in the coming days" and would be dedicated to drone production.
"Ukraine empowers European defense," said Syvyrdenko in an appeal for continued investment in her country. "And Ukraine empowers energy resilience."
