"In total, the members of this Contact Group have provided more than $55 billion in security assistance for Ukraine. That’s a tenfold increase since we first met," Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin boasted at a meeting of NATO defense ministers at the Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany last week.
Announcing a $325 million package of additional weapons aid, including more ammo for Ukraine’s HIMARS artillery, 105 and 155 mm shells, and “important anti-armor capabilities,” Austin said that the US alone had contributed over $35 billion in “security assistance” to Kiev since February 2022.
Who Has Provided the Most Weapons to Ukraine and 'Helped' Kiev the Most?
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy has been monitoring the West's military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since January 2022. According to its figures, between January 2022 and February 24, 2023 alone, the United States has actually committed the equivalent of over $39.1 billion in military assistance to Kiev.
The UK comes in a distant second, devoting $5.97 billion. The European Union and Germany are next, accounting for about $3.25 billion apiece. Poland and the Netherlands are next, accounting for about $2.67 and $2.6 billion, respectively. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Canada round out the top ten, contributing between $883.5 million and $1.54 billion, respectively.
Military aid to Ukraine by country (excluding EU institutions) by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
© Photo Kiel Institute for the World Economy
Which Other Countries Are Helping Ukraine Militarily?
The abovementioned countries aren’t the only ones that have sent military aid to Ukraine, with over 30 donor countries in total. Among them are Finland, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Australia, Latvia, Spain, Turkiye, Luxembourg, Estonia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Greece, Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia, New Zealand, Austria, South Korea, and Romania (the latter dozen or so nations have contributed $200 million or less).
Who Has Sent Tanks to Ukraine?
Main battle tanks are among the most expensive and deadly weapons delivered to Ukraine to date. About 16 countries have delivered or approved the delivery of heavy armor. These include hundreds of Soviet tanks, mainly modifications of Soviet T-72s and T-55s, sent by Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Poland, and Slovakia, as well as upgraded Cold War-era NATO armor.
This includes over 100 Leopard 1 MBTs sent by Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, plus dozens of more advanced Leopard 2A4 and 2A6 tanks (8 committed by Canada, 14 by Denmark and the Netherlands, 18 by Germany, 8 by Norway, 14 by Poland, 3 by Portugal, and 10 by Spain). Sweden has also promised to send 10 of its Leopard 2 mod tanks, known as the Stridsvagn 122. The UK has committed 14 Challenger 2 tanks, armed with toxic depleted uranium munitions, while the US has promised to provide Ukraine with 31 M1 Abrams.
How Much Aid Has Germany Given to Ukraine and What Weapons Have They Sent?
EU economic powerhouse Germany has arguably the most to lose from NATO’s proxy war with Russia, with the closure of a major gas pipeline running through Poland and the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines last fall robbing Berlin of access to trillions of cubic feet in reliable and competitively-priced Russian natural gas to power its industrial base.
Nonetheless, Berlin has faithfully towed the line on arms deliveries to Kiev, with its $3.9 billion in weapons aid including a plethora of advanced weapons, from Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers, mine clearing and armor recovery vehicles, tank transporters, ammunition for small arms and artillery, explosives, drones and anti-drone weapons, advanced radar, and hundreds of trucks.
What Has Canada Done for Ukraine?
Canada, home to a large Ukrainian minority, has also made effective use of its $1.5+ billion in assistance to pump Ukraine up with weapons, sending armored personnel carriers and armored cars (including the Canadian-built Roshel Senator), as well as anti-tank weapons, howitzers, anti-air missiles, a variety of small-arms, ammunition, and support equipment.
How Much Military Assistance Has NATO Sent to Ukraine?
While the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has consistently dismissed Moscow’s allegations that the conflict in Ukraine is a NATO proxy war against Russia, its officials have simultaneously bragged about the billions upon billions in weapons, training, and intelligence support sent to Kiev by the bloc.
"Over the years, NATO allies have provided training for tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers. And since last February, NATO allies have delivered more than 150 billion euros [$165.6 billion, ed.] of support, including 65 billion euros [$71.8 billion] of military aid," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Kiev last week, speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"We are now delivering more jets, tanks, and armored vehicles. And NATO's Ukraine fund is providing urgent support, including medical supplies, mobile satellite systems, and pontoon bridges. All of this is making a real difference on the battlefield every day," Stoltenberg added.
The NATO chief is not wrong about the arms "making a real difference." Having sabotaged Russian-Ukrainian peace negotiations last spring, the US and its allies succeeded in staving off a ceasefire, thus ensuring the deaths of tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of Ukrainian and Russian troops and Donbass civilians, all for the sake of what Lloyd Austin admitted was a crusade designed to "weaken" Moscow militarily.
Are Russian Strategic Partners Like China and Iran Supporting Russia Militarily?
At the same time as they have sent tens of billions of dollars in advanced military hardware to Ukraine, NATO powers have accused some of Moscow’s strategic partners, particularly China and Iran, of selling arms to Russia.
Both countries have rejected these claims, with Beijing instead coming up with a 12-point peace plan designed to settle the Ukraine crisis, and Tehran blasting the West for its campaign of the pot calling the kettle black. Last month, Ukrainian military intelligence admitted that it had found "no evidence" of China providing Russia with any arms. Meanwhile, Iran’s Defense Ministry has complained that Kiev has failed to provide Tehran with any documentation whatsoever about the purported use of “Iranian drones” in Ukraine.
How Do Russians Feel About NATO’s Military Aid to Ukraine?
For many Russians, and for Europeans generally, for that matter, NATO's delivery of advanced weaponry to Ukraine brings up painful memories of Western aggression against Russia historically. As Russian and German media, historians, and politicians pointed out ad nauseam in January after NATO approved sending heavy armor to Kiev, the present crisis is the first time that Russian forces have to face Western tanks in the fields of Ukraine since the Second World War.
"This is an interesting approach you are taking. German tanks in Ukraine against Russia. Your grandfathers already tried this, with the Melnyks and Banderas [Ukrainian Nazi collaborators, ed.]. And what was the result? Untold suffering, millions of deaths on both sides, and in the end, Russian tanks here in Berlin," Alternative for Germany lawmaker Petr Bystron said during a fiery debate in the Bundestag in January.