Even before the meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky escalated into an open dispute, US President Donald Trump (-> Trump vs Selenskyj & the end of NATO) with controversial statements on the Russian war against Ukraine (-> Current news from the Ukraine war) caused a stir. He claimed that the USA had “donated” 350 billion dollars (334 billion euros) to Ukraine – 200 billion dollars (191.1 billion euros) more than Europe. However, this information does not stand up to a Militär Aktuell fact check.
Although there are different statistics and calculation methods for recorded support, the real figures are significantly lower than Trump claims – and Europe has by no means supported Ukraine less than the USA.
According to the latest figures from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, financial and military support for Ukraine from the EU and its member states amounts to 132.3 billion euros, while the USA has so far contributed 130.2 billion euros.
In addition, on the day of Trump’s inauguration, the US government published a detailed list of military aid to Ukraine to date. This shows that a total of 66.7 billion euros has been provided in US military aid since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and a total of 63.5 billion euros since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
Another crucial point: a large proportion of US military aid flowed either in the form of weapons systems and ammunition that had (in some cases) long been in the US inventory and were therefore “paid off” or those that were newly produced in the USA – which in turn secures jobs and generates tax revenue.
Macron corrects Trump in front of the cameras
At a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron a few days ago, Trump repeated another controversial statement: Ukraine had only received loans from Europe, not money as a gift. “They will get their money back,” said Trump.
Macron did not leave this uncommented. He briefly interrupted Trump, put a hand on his arm and clarified: “No, actually – to be honest – we have borne 60 percent of the entire cost. And that was through loans, guarantees and grants, similar to the USA. We have provided real money, to be clear.”
While Trump briefly shrugged, Macron continued: “We have 230 billion in frozen Russian assets in Europe. But not as collateral for a loan – because they don’t belong to us, they are frozen.”
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Independent calculations show a different picture
Another analysis comes from the “Economists for Ukraine”, an association of 400 economists from the Universities of Berkeley, Illinois and the Stockholm School of Economics. According to their calculations – based on public sources – the total value of US aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war “only” amounts to 49.1 billion euros. Of this, 17.6 billion euros is accounted for by pure military aid and 31.4 billion euros by direct budgetary aid in the form of World Bank cost reimbursements and loan guarantees.
These figures differ considerably from the sums cited by Trump. In the case of military aid in particular, the actual support is two to three times lower than the often quoted approval amounts.
New European efforts to help Ukraine
In view of the current transatlantic tensions, the EU has announced a new aid package of 3.5 billion euros to further support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Other international commitments include:
- Spain: an additional 1 billion euros in support,
- Canada: recently confirmed 293 million Euror in military aid, including drones, armored vehicles and heavy weapons,
- Sweden: a commitment of 1.18 billion euros for armaments and equipment (-> Tridon cannons for Ukraine).
Despite all the political turbulence, Europe remains united in its support for Ukraine – and continues to bear the largest financial share.
