Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Germany for the Munich Security Conference and met with Olaf Scholz.
The German Chancellor noted that Europeans should help Ukraine more broadly for their security. He announced that this year, Germany will increase aid to Ukraine.
Olaf Scholz called for more active support for Ukraine, defending itself from Russian aggression and orienting toward the volume of assistance allocated by the United States.
“The US provides Ukraine with $20 billion in military aid annually, while its GDP is $28 trillion. Such assistance is the least any European country can do,” he said during his speech at the Munich Security Conference.
“We must show Putin that the West can be strong. Despite colossal losses, a significant part of Russia’s armed forces has not been damaged,” the head of the German government stated and added that Putin has not yet achieved any of his goals in Ukraine.
Scholz emphasized that increasing aid to Ukraine is essential not only for Ukraine but also for the security of Europeans themselves. He announced that Germany will allocate more than 7 billion euros for Ukraine this year and plans a transaction of another 6 billion in the coming years.
The Chancellor noted that in Germany, as in other countries, there is criticism about whether spending money on other purposes would be better. According to the head of the German government, Moscow feeds such sentiments in social networks through targeted disinformation and propaganda. “Without security, everything else means nothing,” he emphasized.
NATO should not weaken
Scholz warns against weakening NATO. “Any relativization (devaluation and replacement) of NATO’s guarantees regarding the defense of member countries only helps those who want our weakening, for example, Russian President Vladimir Putin,” he said, referring to former US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s previous statement that he does not intend to defend NATO countries that spend little on defense.
The Chancellor is convinced that Germany, now, in the 1930s, and in the future, will allocate 2% of GDP for defense. “We must ensure that our defense forces meet modern requirements,” he noted and added that Germany, France, and Great Britain will accelerate the development and deployment of the most modern high-precision weapons.
The German Institute of World Economy has calculated that Ukraine received almost 260 billion euros from the West during the armed conflict. The European Union allocated 77 billion euros (more than the USA). Regarding GDP percentage, Denmark emerged as the primary donor from Europe.
Aid from Europe to Ukraine significantly exceeds the volume of assistance from the USA—the new data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy evidence this. Germany plays a special role in support.
Researchers have broken down the entire aid to Ukraine:
The USA provided 67.71 billion euros in aid. The European Union allocated 77.18 billion euros (excluding individual countries’ aid). Germany helped with 22.06 billion euros (not counting the joint aid from EU countries). If we also count the EU aid, the total amount is 41 billion euros.
Reduction of funds from the USA
According to the study, since January 2022, in the fight against Russia, almost 250 billion euros have been allocated to support Ukraine. About 100 billion euros of this amount were military aid.
However, now, the future of this significant aid has become uncertain.
From the end of 2023, new financial resources are coming from somewhere other than the USA. The House of Representatives must approve the new aid package. There are doubts about whether the US Congress, where Republicans dominate, will approve the bill.
Christoph Trebesch, head of the group and director of the Institute, explains: “Europe will have to increase its current military aid if the United States does not assist in the future. It’s a difficult task, but ultimately, it’s a matter of political will.”
According to Trebesch, increasing European financial aid is realistic: “EU countries are among the richest in the world, and they have not yet spent even one percent of their GDP on supporting Ukraine.”
Here’s how much European countries are contributing:
Germany is the main sponsor of military aid to Ukraine in Europe. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the German government has approved an aid package of 22.06 billion euros. In addition, Germany contributes 18.94 billion euros within the framework of joint aid from EU countries. Thus, the total amount from Germany is 41 billion euros.
The United Kingdom. With the latest commitments included, the British have pledged 15.66 billion euros to the Ukrainians.
Denmark is one of the largest financial sponsors in terms of its GDP. It has pledged 8.76 billion euros to date, and its share in European aid amounts to 11.11 billion euros.
France contributes only 1.8 billion euros but is the second sponsor in the overall European aid share.
