idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Since the Trump administration took office, US aid to Ukraine has come to a standstill, while Europe has consistently maintained its support, widening the gap in total allocations: The European continent has now allocated EUR 23 billion more than the United States. This is shown in the latest update of the Ukraine Support Tracker, which covers aids until February 2025. Smaller countries like Estonia and Denmark contribute disproportionately relative to their economic size—while larger economies such as Germany, France, and Spain are being called upon to play a more significant role.
US aid has stalled since Donald Trump assumed office on January 20, 2025. No new military, financial, or humanitarian aid is observed since the United States announced its last aid package—still under the Biden administration, on January 9: EUR 480 million (USD 500 million) in military aid, including air-defense and air-to-surface missiles, as well as equipment for F-16 fighter jets. The last time US support paused for such a long stretch was in January 2024 during a congressional deadlock over a new Ukraine aid package.
“The recent pause in US aid raises the pressure on European governments to do more, both in financial and military assistance,” says Taro Nishikawa, project lead of the Ukraine Support Tracker (https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/) at the Kiel Institute.
While Washington stalled its aid, Europe continued to announce new aid packages: In January and February the UK allocated EUR 360 million, Germany EUR 450 million, Norway EUR 610 million, Denmark EUR 690 million, and, most notably, Sweden EUR 1.1 billion. On top of it, the European Commission has newly disbursed to Ukraine the first loan of EUR 3 billion. As a result, Europe has now allocated a total of EUR 138 billion in aid since the start of the war—EUR 23 billion more than the United States. Yet, in the area of military support, the US still leads, albeit by a small margin: Since February 2022, the US has allocated around EUR 65 billion in military aid to Ukraine, roughly EUR 1 billion more than Europe.
The new data underscore the large heterogeneity across Europe. Many Western European countries provide only limited aid, at least when compared to the Nordic and Baltics. Countries such as Estonia or Denmark have allocated more than 2 percent of their pre-war GDP to Ukraine, compared to about 0.4–0.5 percent for Germany and the UK, and only 0.1–0.2 percent by France, Italy, or Spain.
In the previous report “Ukraine Aid: How Europe Can Replace US Support” (https://www.ifw-kiel.de/publications/ukraine-aid-how-europe-can-replace-us-suppo...), the authors show that it is mostly the large European countries—the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain who would need to increase their support in order to partially or fully replace US aid. “If the ‘big five’ European countries would do nearly as much as the Nordic or Baltic countries, Europe could largely compensate for any US shortfall, especially when it comes to financial aid,” says Christoph Trebesch, head of the Ukraine Support Tracker at the Kiel Institute.
About the Ukraine Support Tracker
The Ukraine Support Tracker (https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/) lists and quantifies military, financial, and humanitarian aid pledged to Ukraine since January 24, 2022 (currently through February 2025). It covers 40 countries, specifically the EU member states, other members of the G7, as well as Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, China, Taiwan, and India. Also, EU institutions are included as a separate donor. The tracker lists government-to-government commitments; private donations or those from international organizations such as the IMF are not included in the main database. Flows going into other countries like, for example, Moldova, are not included.
With regard to sources, the database combines official government sources with information from international media. Aid provided in kind, such as medical supplies, food, or military equipment, is quantified on the basis of market prices or information from previous crises involving government aid. In case of doubt, upper bounds of prices are used.
The Ukraine Support Tracker is constantly being expanded, corrected, and improved. Suggestions are very welcome and can be sent to ukrainetracker@ifw-kiel.de.
More information and detailed data can be found on this webpage: Ukraine Support Tracker (https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/).
For more information on the Ukraine Support Tracker methodology, read this working paper (https://www.ifw-kiel.de/de/publikationen/the-ukraine-support-tracker-which-count...).
Media Contact:
Elisabeth Radke
Head of Outreach
T +49 431 8814-598
elisabeth.radke@ifw-kiel.de
Kiel Institute for the World Economy
Kiellinie 66 | 24105 Kiel | Germany
Chausseestraße 111 | 10115 Berlin | Germany
T +49 431 8814-1
E info@ifw-kiel.de
www.ifw-kiel.de
Taro Nishikawa
Kiel Institute Researcher
T +49 431 8814-229
taro.nishikawa@ifw-kiel.de
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten, Wirtschaftsvertreter, Wissenschaftler
Gesellschaft, Politik, Wirtschaft
überregional
Forschungs- / Wissenstransfer
Englisch
Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.
Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).
Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.
Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).
Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).
