Pietro Bomprezzi

New European aid to Ukraine has not shown an uptick in recent months, despite the fact that US aid has come to a complete halt. In January and February 2024, European countries allocated a total of about EUR 6 billion in aid to Ukraine, almost all of it for the military. This is shown in the latest update of the Ukraine Support Tracker, which tracks aid commitments through February 29, 2024. The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of US assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells. The new US aid package which passed congress last weekend is therefore crucial, but not yet included in the figures.

The Team of the Ukraine Support Tracker introduces a new measure to track foreign government aid to Ukraine – government “allocations”. The data show that total European aid has long overtaken U.S. aid - not only in terms of commitments, but also in terms of specific aid allocations sent to Ukraine. In addition, the approval of the EU's Ukraine Support Facility guarantees further financial assistance. However, the gap between EU commitments and allocations remains very large (€144 billion committed vs. €77 billion allocated). To fully replace U.S. military assistance in 2024, Europe would have to double its current level and pace of arms assistance. These are results from the latest Ukraine Support Tracker update, which now covers aid through January 15, 2024.

The dynamics of support to Ukraine have slowed. Newly committed aid has reached a new low between August to October 2023—an almost 90 percent drop compared to the same period in 2022. Ukraine now increasingly relies on a core group of donors such as the US, Germany, and the Nordic and Eastern European countries that continue to pledge and deliver both financial aid and important weaponry, such as F-16 fighter jets. The outlook is unclear, since the largest pending aid commitment—by the European Union—has not been finally approved, and aid by the US has been on the decline. These are results from the latest Ukraine Support Tracker update, which now covers commitments through October 31, 2023.