idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
Aid flows to Ukraine shifted significantly in March and April 2025. While the United States allocated no new aid during this period, European countries increased their support. As a result, Europe has, for the first time since June 2022, surpassed the US in total military aid, totaling EUR 72 billion compared to EUR 65 billion from the US However, the increase has not been evenly distributed across Europe. Countries such as the Nordics and the United Kingdom have markedly stepped up their aid, while others, such as Germany, have maintained more moderate levels. (...)
(...) These are among the key findings from the latest update of the Ukraine Support Tracker (https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/), which includes data through April 2025.
---
European Aid Increase Barely Offsets US Standstill
European support for Ukraine rose sharply in March and April. In just two months, Europe allocated EUR 10.4 billion in military aid and EUR 9.8 billion in humanitarian and financial aid. This represents the highest combined total for any two-month period since the start of the war.
This comes as the United States, formerly Ukraine’s largest donor, has not announced any new aid since early January. With US contributions stalled, the key question is whether Europe can fill the gap.
The latest data suggest that Europe has largely done so, at least in financial terms. Average monthly aid from January to April 2025 slightly surpassed the 2022–2024 average.
"It is remarkable that Europe has filled the gap," says Christoph Trebesch, head of the Ukraine Support Tracker. "It remains to be seen whether this is a temporary spike or the beginning of a more lasting shift in Europe’s role as the main supporter of Ukraine."
European Surge Driven by a Few Countries
The latest data show that Europe’s recent aid surge has been driven by a small group of countries. Nordic nations stand out, with Sweden allocating EUR 1.6 billion in March and Norway allocating EUR 670 million in April—record monthly figures for both. In total, Nordic countries increased their aid by EUR 5.8 billion between January and April 2025.
Among larger European economies, the United Kingdom has stepped up as well, allocating EUR 4.5 billion so far this year. Of that amount, EUR 1.8 billion came from frozen Russian assets rather than new budget spending. France has contributed EUR 2.2 billion, including nearly EUR 195 million from frozen assets. EU institutions also played a major role, allocating EUR 12.2 billion during the same period.
In contrast, other major European economies have shown only modest increases. Spain and Italy have allocated just EUR 10 million and EUR 20 million respectively in 2025. Germany has allocated EUR 650 million in 2025, marking a drop of around 70 percent compared to the same period in 2024.
These figures for Germany are unaffected by the government’s recent decision to stop publishing detailed military aid data on its official website. The Ukraine Support Tracker’s dataset covers aid through April, while the website was taken offline in May.
"The strong engagement by the Nordic countries has become even more visible following the halt in new US aid," says Trebesch. "In contrast, it is striking how little Germany has allocated in recent months. Rather than increasing its support after Trump took office, we observe a sharp decline in German aid compared to previous years. The same trend applies to Italy and Spain."
About the Ukraine Support Tracker
The Ukraine Support Tracker lists and quantifies military, financial, and humanitarian aid pledged to Ukraine since January 24, 2022 (currently through April 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:
Mathias Rauck
Chief Communications Officer
T +49 431 8814-411
mathias.rauck@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
Aid Allocations to Ukraine: Monthly Averages 2022–2024 vs. Jan.–Apr. 2025
Cumulative Aid Allocated to Ukraine by Major European Donors (Five Largest European Economies and No ...
Criteria of this press release:
Business and commerce, Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Economics / business administration, Politics, Social studies
transregional, national
Transfer of Science or Research
English
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
