Ursula von der Leyen pledged to maintain financial aid to Ukraine and backed its EU membership ambitions in an unannounced visit to Kyiv aimed at showing support to the country at a time that western diplomatic focus is shifting to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The European commission president’s Saturday visit comes at a time of sharp doubts over continued western funding for Kyiv, as the US Congress bickers over a financial aid package for the country and the EU argues over a budget top-up that has delayed approval of its own €50bn support package.

Uncertainty over long-term financing designed to keep President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government functioning has raised fears of fatigue among its two biggest backers as it wages a more than 20-month long battle against Russia’s full-scale invasion.