Europe Surpasses US Total Aid to Ukraine Since January 2022 – Kiel Institute

April 22 ------ Europe has overtaken the US in total aid to Ukraine encompassing financial, military, and humanitarian assistance, according to director of the Research Center International Finance at the Kiel Institute Christoph Trebesch. 

Trebesch made the comment during an online discussion titled “Ukraine’s public finances in the third year of war,” organized by Ukraine’s Centre of Economic Strategy. “If we count every single aid item – military, financial and humanitarian – add it up across all European countries and compare it to the US, we see Europe surpassed the US by about €25 billion ($28.4 billion) in total aid allocated since January 2022,” Trebesch said during the discussion.   

According to the Kiel Institute report “Ukraine Aid: How Europe Can Replace US Support,” the US allocated an average of €38 billion ($43.2 billion) per year over the past three years, while European states and EU institutions provided €27.5 ($31.3 billion) and €16 billion per year ($18.2 billion), respectively.  

Europe as a whole thus surpassed US support, allocating €43.5 billion ($49.5 billion) vs €38 billion ($43.2 billion), Kiel Institute’s report says. While the US provides a mix of financial and military aid, EU institutions primarily offer financial aid, and individual member countries contribute a combination of both. The US offers a substantial amount of grants, while the EU often provides loans, particularly through the Ukraine Facility – its monetary financial assistance program. But EU loans that were given to Ukraine are borrowed in very concessional terms, so it is possible they might not be repaid fully, according to Trebesch.  

The US is still leading the way in military aid to Ukraine, surpassing Europe by €1 billion in military commitments, Trebesch said. However, the halt in military aid from the US in March sent shockwaves through Kyiv’s leadership. When leaders from both countries issued a joint statement on Tuesday, saying that both military aid and intelligence sharing had “immediately” been reinstated after state representatives held bilateral talks in Saudi Arabia, there was a collective sigh of relief in Ukraine. But political analysts and government officials had warned for months that Washington’s support to Ukraine was not guaranteed particularly after US President Donald Trump took office, Kyiv Post previously wrote. 

Source: kyivpost.com