July 1 (Reuters) - Ukraine is asking its European Union partners to direct €6.6 billion ($7.5 billion) available under the European Peace Facility to military aid, to take advantage of what it sees as a six-to-nine-month "window of opportunity" on the battlefield.
Ukraine's total defence need is estimated at around €136 billion this year, with the Ukrainian budget covering around €53 billion of that amount, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a letter seen by Reuters.
Ukraine is set to receive about €28.3 billion for defence purposes this year from the €90-billion EU loan, but even with that and Kyiv's own funding, "substantial" defence financing needs remain unmet, Fedorov said in the letter, dated June 26.
The funds under the EPF could become "one of the most impactful European contributions to Ukraine's defence effort this year, but only if those resources are directed where they can generate the greatest and most immediate military effect," he said.
Russia's advances have slowed this year, with Ukraine staging successful counterattacks on some parts of the frontline and leveraging its mid- and long-range attacks on Russian territory to disrupt Moscow's logistics and curb its oil revenue.
Separately, Fedorov told a news conference on June 17 that he was seeking an additional $20 billion in military funding from the Ukraine Defence Contact Group — an alliance of 50 nations, also known as the Ramstein group, that provides aid to Ukraine — on top of $40 billion already committed.
($1 = 0.8766 euros)
(Reporting by Max Hunder; Writing by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Jacqueline Wong and Andrew Heavens)
