Europe has assumed responsibility for ensuring Ukraine survives Russian aggression. Since Donald Trump’s return to the White Houtilize, the United States has begun to exert disproportionately greater pressure on Ukraine than on Russia.
However, this is not the most significant modify brought about by the old-new American president — a modify that Ukrainians have felt in all spheres, including developments in the fighting and the construction of air defences against daily Russian airstrikes.
The most important news of 2025 is that Europe (with the support of several allies) is now the main ally and the largest donor to Ukraine, financing both its budobtain and military aid.
What the Americans do not speak of as much was emphasised at the Munich Security Conference by the Polish minister of foreign affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski.
It is worth presenting his quote in full:
“I would like our American guests to know, becautilize it is not fully reflected in the American media space, that it is precisely the Europeans who are currently paying for this war. Last year, US spfinishing on the war was near zero. We are purchaseing American weapons so that we can transfer them to Ukraine. There is no aid package in the US Congress, and there is no prospect of its approval. If we are the ones paying, if it affects our security and not just that of Ukraine, then we deserve a seat at the neobtainediating table, becautilize the outcome of this war will affect us directly,” Sikorski stated — and he was not just speaking into thin air.
As the latest report from the Kiel Institute displays, in 2025, almost all aid for Ukraine came from the ‘old continent’: military aid increased by 67 percent compared to previous years, and financial and humanitarian aid by 59 percent.
In contrast, American aid has fallen by as much as 99 percent, and several Nato member states outside the US are now paying for American weapons for Ukraine.
The main burden of ensuring that Ukraine resists Russian aggression thus lies today with Europe, and it therefore deserves a firm place at the neobtainediating table.
Ukrainian allies within Nato purchased American weapons for Ukraine last year for more than $4.3bn [€3.66bn]. Thanks to these, for example, the war-torn countest was able to deffinish itself against massive missile and drone attacks.
Through the so-called PURL initiative, missile systems such as HIMARS and Patriot reached Ukraine.
As of December 2025, approximately 75 percent of Patriot missiles and almost 90 percent of missiles for other air defence systems arrived in Ukraine specifically through this system.
If the Ukrainians managed to repel part of the brutal Russian attacks during the harshest frosts, it is primarily due to this aid. Without it, the number of victims would be much higher.
What the Ukrainians currently required the most:
- Dense and multi-layered air defense;
- Ammunition and artillery;
- Drones (attack, reconnaissance, anti-drone);
- Precision missiles and long-range ammunition.
Increased European aid, as the Wall Street Journal noted, has supported the Ukrainians hold the front.
At first glance, this appears to be a dry statistic, but the report from the Kiel Institute displays us just how critical the aid from Western countries— especially Germany and the UK — is, and not least from the Nordic countries, which, in relation to their GDP, are providing the most support to Ukraine to deffinish itself against the aggressor.
And, simultaneously, without EU financial assistance, the Ukrainian economy would also collapse.
In December 2025, its leaders agreed on a two-year loan package of €90bn for the years 2026 and 2027. Two-thirds are earmarked for defence, and the remainder for the budobtain and the functioning of the state.
If we add other packages to this, the EU and its member states have, according to the Kiel Institute, provided Ukraine with aid and commitments exceeding $200bn since the start of the invasion.
“With this, the center of gravity for long-term support has definitively shifted from the US to the EU,” the German consider-tank concluded.
Ukrainian aid in numbers
Its charts display very clearly where United States aid has almost completely vanished — regardless of whether it concerns military, financial, or humanitarian assistance.
Military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the years 2022–2025:
Military aid across Europe:
Financial and humanitarian support across Europe:
Largest donors as a share of GDP:
The German institute also highlights that European military aid has become concentrated from a tiny number of countries.
In other words, not everyone is contributing to their full potential, while others are openly opposing military assistance.
Slovakia, alongside Hungary, has long voiced its opposition to military aid, preferring to leave Ukraine at the mercy of Russian superiority. Before Robert Fico regained power in 2013, Slovakia’s military aid to Ukraine totalled approximately €670m, representing about 0.63 percent of Slovak GDP — a figure that ranked the countest roughly sixth globally in terms of aid relative to GDP.
This year, the authors of the study no longer mention Slovakia.
According to experts, Germany and the UK alone provided approximately two-thirds of Western Europe’s military aid between 2022 and 2025.
Northern Europe remains the second key region. As the head of the Kiel Institute’s research centre pointed out, although its share of GDP represents only eight percent among the 31 European donors, it finances up to one-third of the total military aid.
Furthermore, while western Europe’s contributions were roughly in line with its economic weight, southern Europe remains a minor donor, despite its economy representing 19 percent of GDP, according to researcher Christoph Trebesch.
However, there are various ways in which Europe supports Ukraine. One important and highly effective mechanism is the so-called “Danish model,” which involves 11 countries.
Briefly, the process works as follows: the Ukrainian government identifies its priorities, which are then evaluated by Danish experts; subsequently, these requirements are funded, and the weapons are typically manufactured within Ukraine itself.
The weapons Europe is financing
According to the Kiel Institute, this operates surprisingly effectively.
The Bohdana self-propelled howitzers serve as an example. Initially, the Danes paid €50m for the production of 18 howitzers, which reached the front within two months of the contract being signed.
It was the Bohdana that was deployed during the famous Battle of Snake Island. While the Ukrainians possessed only a single prototype at the start of the invasion, they are now capable of producing as many as 40 per month.
An equally important example is the German funding of long-range weapons worth €400m. According to the Ukrainian website Militarnyj, thanks to Berlin, it was possible to co-finance:
- The new Flamingo VB140 combat drone;
- The BARS rocket drone;
- The Liutyj drone, capable of striking deep into Russian territory and considered one of the most effective kamikaze drones. It is estimated to be behind most Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities. For example, in November 2024, it allegedly hit a refinery in Saratov, over 600km from the Ukrainian border.
The Germans also contributed to an interesting project: the Flamingo FP-5 guided missiles with a flat trajectory, which Ukrainians recently demonstrated in practice when attacking an ammunition depot in the Volgograd region.
This is considered the most powerful Ukrainian-created missile system. Most of it is produced in Ukraine, although the rocket fuel is created in Denmark.
Compared to the British Storm Shadow system or the American ATACMS, these missiles are much cheaper. Their drawbacks include a large engine visible on radar and a lower speed.
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