The European Commission will provide Ukraine with a new loan of up to $39 billion, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in Kyiv on September 20, calling it "another major EU contribution to Ukraine's recovery."
"Relentless Russian attacks means Ukraine needs continued EU support," von der Leyen said in a post on X.
Speaking in a joint press conference with von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country's "victory plan" in the war against Russia depended on quick decisions being made by allies this year.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine plans to use the funds for air defense, energy, and domestic weapons purchases.
The loan is part of a wider plan among the Group of Seven (G7) countries to raise funds to support Kyiv using proceeds from some $300 billion in Russian financial assets frozen as part of sanctions against Moscow for invading Ukraine.
After months of discussions, the European Union in May struck a deal among its member states under which 90 percent of the proceeds would go into an EU-run fund for military aid for Ukraine, with the other 10 percent going to support Kyiv in other ways.
Von der Leyen's visit to the Ukrainian capital comes a day after she announced the EU will provide an additional $178 million to help Ukraine repair damaged energy infrastructure, expand renewable energy, and finance shelters.
Ahead of the meeting with Zelenskiy, the EU chief said she was in Kyiv to discuss Europe's support to Ukraine "from winter preparedness to defense, to accession and progress on the G7 loans."
"My 8th visit to Kyiv comes as the heating season starts soon, and Russia keeps targeting energy infrastructure," von der Leyen said in a post on X early on September 20.
Zelenskiy met with top military leaders later on September 20 to discuss the deployment of Patriot missile systems to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the winter.
He said the meeting covered the level of protection for energy infrastructure, the schedule for the completion of fortifications, and the placement of air defense systems, including U.S.-made Patriot systems, which are expected to be delivered "in the near future."
Earlier this week, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that the coming winter could be the hardest yet for Ukraine, as the country's energy infrastructure is under significant pressure amid Russian strikes on its power plants, heating plants, and transmission networks.
"Strains that are bearable in the summer months may become unbearable when temperatures start to fall and supplies of heat and water falter, triggering further displacement of affected populations across the country and abroad," the IEA said.
Ukraine's air force said on September 20 that air defenses destroyed 61 out of 70 Russian drones and one out of four missiles launched overnight.
"The air defense system operated in Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Vinnytsya, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Khmelnytskiy, Mykolayiv, Odesa, and Kherson regions," the air force said on Telegram.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties in the latest nighttime attacks.
Officials in the Lviv region reported that falling debris caused a fire in a village and also damaged three vehicles and shattered windows in residential buildings.
"The premises of the former collective farm caught fire, which firefighters promptly extinguished," the head of the regional military administration Maksym Kozytskiy wrote on Telegram.