Data shows that European member states have invested a total of €138 billion in Ukraine, compared to €115 billion from the United States.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that his country spends far more money in Ukraine than the European Union. According to Trump, the US has paid up to 350 billion dollars since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He didn’t specify whether this was just for defence spending or also included other types of aid, such as loans or humanitarian support.
However, the numbers are way off, according to our investigations. Data shows that European member states have invested a total of 138 billion euros into Ukraine, compared to 115 billion euros from the US, that’s 23 billion euros more than the US, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a think tank based in Germany which tracks foreign spending in Ukraine. This is in the form of financial, military and humanitarian aid.
The data indicates the US continues to lead the field in terms of military aid, a sector in which it has historically specialised.
The US defence budget for Ukraine amounts to 65 billion euros, while the EU has spent 64 billion euros. This means that there is little more than 1 billion euros difference between the two. The gap is also fairly narrow in terms of financial aid to Ukraine: while the United States has provided 47 billion euros, the EU has granted nearly 50 billion euros in grants and loans. Finally, in terms of humanitarian aid, 3.5 billion came from the United States and just under 3 billion from the EU.
Trump effect
US support for Ukraine has declined significantly since Donald Trump came to power at the beginning of the year. The latest US aid programme was put in place last January under Joe Biden and amounted to around €500 million in military equipment. Since then, no further payments have been made.
According to experts, this is increasing pressure on Europe to enhance its support. Just last month, EU leaders backed a major push to boost European defence spending by 800 billion euros.
A key question is whether Europe could assume the role of the United States in Ukraine if Washington were to completely withdraw its involvement. The Kiel Institute has confirmed that this is indeed the case in relation to financial aid, and that this will be contingent on a commitment from the EU’s leading nations to provide additional support.
The majority of the shortfall could be covered if nations such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK increased their expenditure, even by a small amount. Germany continues to be the largest financial contributor, although the proportion of its GDP invested in Ukraine remains minimal, contrary to the contributions of smaller nations such as Estonia and Denmark, which are more than proportionate to their economic size.
The military aid aspect is more complex. Replacing American weapons, in particular military intelligence, would be a challenging undertaking. However, according to industry experts, Europe still has the potential to make a significant impact.
- Author: Nina Lamparski, Euranet Plus News Agency
