Europe overtakes US in promised aid to Ukraine

Europe has surpassed the United States in the amount of aid promised to Ukraine with total European support commitments now being twice as large.

A German think tank, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, surveyed support announcements made between January 24, 2022 and July 31, 2023.

In a report released on Thursday, the think tank says that EU member states and organizations have promised a total of about 131.9 billion euros, or about 141 billion dollars, while the US has committed 69.4 billion euros, or roughly 74 billion dollars, in support to Kyiv.

The institute says this is the first time that Europe has overtaken the US in promised aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began.

The institute cites, as a main reason, the EU's new 50-billion-euro multi-year support package to be delivered to Ukraine between 2023 and 2027.

Germany has also announced a four-year military package worth about 10.5 billion euros to be delivered through 2027.

Those new multi-year packages have pushed Europe to the top of the donors' list.

A researcher at the Kiel Institute says, "The doubling of EU aid is a notable shift compared to the first year of the war, when the US clearly lead the way."