Partner countries have significantly reduced their aid to Ukraine this year
13 August 19:16
European countries significantly increased their aid to Ukraine in May and June 2026. This was reported on Thursday, August 13, by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which has been tracking financial, military, and humanitarian support for Kyiv from 41 countries since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the researchers, the increase is primarily due to the creation of the “Ukraine Support Loan” instrument, through which European countries have allocated nearly 11 billion euros to cover the country’s budgetary (about 6.7 billion) and defense (approximately 4.3 billion) needs.
However, according to the updated IfW database, in absolute terms, financial and humanitarian aid was significantly lower than the previous year’s level. The average monthly amount from January through June was 41% lower than in 2025.
In addition, the bulk of new military aid packages for Ukraine during the first six months of the year also came from European donors: Germany allocated 700 million euros for Kyiv’s defense needs, Denmark allocated 600 million, and the Netherlands allocated 500 million. In terms of financial and humanitarian aid, the United Kingdom provided the most support—1.5 billion euros—followed by Sweden with 360 million and Norway with 140 million.
European Aid to Ukraine Depends on U.S. Weapons
The IfW emphasizes that U.S. weapons continue to play a central role in European support for Ukraine. In the first half of 2026, the share of U.S.-manufactured weapons in European military aid packages continued to grow.
According to the researchers’ estimates, European donors purchased at least 3 billion euros worth of military aid from U.S. defense companies. More than 90% of the weapons supplied to Kyiv as part of NATO’s “Priority List of Ukraine’s Needs” (PURL) initiative came from U.S. stockpiles, the IfW added.
Federico Melache, a leading analyst for the Ukraine Aid Database, believes that in the long term, the key issue regarding aid to Ukraine will be the limited number of alternatives to U.S. weapons — and whether Europe will be able to rely on its own defense industry to gradually reduce this dependence.
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