How Much Money Has NATO Pledged to Ukraine to Date?

NATO announced a 500 million euro ($546 million) security assistance package to Ukraine on Friday, this time for support equipment. How much have the US and its allies spent on military aid to Ukraine in total?

“Allies have already pledged 500 million euros [to Ukraine] for critical needs, including fuel, medical supplies, demining equipment and pontoon bridges,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at a press conference in Brussels on Friday.

“We will also help build Ukraine’s security and defense sector, including with military hospitals, and we will help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era to NATO equipment and standards,” he added.

Across the Atlantic, US officials announced their own, $800 million military aid package for Kiev, including howitzer-fired cluster bombs, Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, Patriot air defense systems, AIM-7 air-to-air missiles, and Stinger man-portable anti-air missiles.

How Much Have NATO Members Given to Ukraine?

Over the past month alone, the US and its allies pledged to provide an additional $6.725 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. That includes a $3.8 billion bump last week in the European Union’s so-called "European Peace Facility" for purchases of military equipment, supplies, and ammunition.

Washington announced a $2.1 billion security assistance package including air defense and ammunition on June 9, a $325 million package including anti-aircraft systems, HIMARS, 105 and 155 mm artillery rounds, Bradleys, Strykers, Javelins, TOW missiles, and 22 million rounds of small arms ammo on June 13, and $500 million of equipment “to support Ukraine’s counteroffensive operations” on June 28.

According to the latest Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker figures, between January 2022 and May 31, 2023, NATO and the EU pledged a total of more than $85.7 billion (€78.15 billion) to Ukraine. Adding in the figures for June, plus military support by non-NATO powers Sweden and Australia (about $2 billion total), the West has pledged a total of over $94.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine over the past 18 months. For comparison, Russia in 2023 committed five trillion rubles, equivalent to about $56.6 billion, for defense spending in 2023.

Who is the Single Biggest NATO Donor in Ukraine?

The United States has been the single biggest benefactor to Kiev as far as military assistance goes, laying out about $50 billion of the $94.5 billion total. This is understandable, given the benefits political elites in Washington and the US military industrial complex stand to gain from the Ukraine crisis. America’s overseas allies, meanwhile, must face the repercussions of a security crisis in the heart of Europe, including recession, the potential fragmentation of Europe’s industrial base, and risks of the conflict’s spread.

How Much Have the UK, France, and Germany Sent to Ukraine?

Germany, Britain, Poland, and the Netherlands round out the top five of the biggest donors of military aid to Ukraine, accounting for $8.2 billion, $7.2 billion, $3.3 billion, and $2.7 billion, respectively. France, which has committed over $3.8 billion to Ukraine via the ‘European Peace Facility’, has also pledged about $493.6 billion in direct support.

What Does Ukraine Do With the Military Aid It Gets?

It’s worth clarifying that the support Ukraine gets from Western countries, whether military, economic, or humanitarian, can only be conditionally characterized as “aid” or “assistance,” firstly because a substantial portion of it actually constitutes loans. Secondly, “reconstruction” aid has been spearheaded by US hedge fund giants like Blackrock and JPMorgan, which have a vested interest in receiving access to the country’s resources and highly fertile agricultural lands, and can consequently manipulate Kiev into taking certain political or economic decisions in exchange for “aid.” Thirdly, as US Senator Lindsey Graham candidly admitted during a recent trip to Kiev, having “Russians dying” in the NATO proxy war in Ukraine is “the best money we’ve ever spent.” Or to put it another way, tying up Washington’s strategic adversary in a costly conflict, while the US can just print more money out of thin air to pay for it, helps explain the Biden administration’s “generosity” in Ukraine.

It’s also worth noting that not all the military aid slated for Ukraine actually goes to the Eastern European country, and that part of it never reaches the front lines. Part of the cash stays in the US, and goes into the pockets of US defense industry giants like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to assist in military production and new capacities. Part is suspected to be pilfered by Ukrainian officials, with Western weapons being smuggled out of the country and ending up in the hands of European gangs, or African and Middle Eastern militant and terrorist groups. Part of it is thrown into battle against Russian forces, including in the recent stalled Ukrainian counteroffensive, which has cost Kiev thousands of soldiers’ lives and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles.

Why Can’t Ukraine Join NATO?

In recent weeks, the question of possible Ukrainian membership in NATO was at the center of speculation ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania next week. Some NATO officials have anonymously told media that negotiations are underway about the provision of vague “security guarantees” for Kiev by the alliance. The Zelensky administration, meanwhile, has lobbied for a firm commitment on eventual outright membership. The White House crushed Kiev's ambitions on Friday, pointing out that Ukraine is "in the middle" of a conflict with Russia, and still has to "meet certain requirements" for membership. That said, NATO's door continues to be "open" to Ukraine, Washington said.

Attempting to pull Ukraine into NATO would come with incredible risks for the alliance, including that danger of a direct confrontation with Russia that may culminate in World War III. Ever since the alliance’s Bucharest Summit in 2008, where the alliance announced its support for Kiev’s membership aspirations, Moscow has been warning that Ukraine in NATO would fundamentally undermine Russia’s strategic security interests, and the security of Europe as a whole.

In addition, the alliance’s rules for membership state that candidates must not have any unresolved internal ethnic or religious conflicts, and no outstanding international or territorial disputes with neighbors. As a formality, NATO members should also be democracies in the Western liberal mold. Contemporary Ukraine doesn’t meet any of these requirements, and it's worth remembering that the present conflict was actually sparked by the post-coup Kiev government’s attacks on Russian speakers in 2014. Ukraine also refuses to recognize Crimea, Donbass, and portions of Kherson and Zaporozhye as part of Russia. In addition, Kiev has launched sabotage attacks, terror artillery and drone strikes, and assassinations against military and civilian targets inside Russia. So much for NATO’s “good neighbor” requirement.

To sum up, continuing to send tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Ukraine is far safer for NATO than allowing Kiev to join the alliance. And less controversial too, since it is Ukrainians, not citizens of Western countries, that are being asked to fight and die for the sake of Washington’s anti-Russian geopolitical ambitions.