The European Union has granted Ukraine a waiver to use funds from a €6 billion defence loan to purchase Chinese-made drone components, marking the first defence procurement tranche of a broader €60 billion aid package.
The exemption explicitly permits spending on Chinese parts where no domestic alternatives are available, Il Sole 24 Ore reported. Drones have become central to Kyiv's battlefield strategy, with Ukrainian officials saying roughly 80 percent of Russian military losses now stem from drone strikes.
The defence loan mechanism gained a new participant on July 13, when Britain joined the facility, signalling continued Western commitment to arming Ukraine despite the political sensitivity of sourcing components from China.