US Support Drops, Europe Unable to Fully Compensate
Europe struggles to offset US military aid drop for Ukraine in 2025.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
According to the latest update of the Ukraine Support Tracker, new military aid allocations to Ukraine in 2025 risk falling to their lowest level since the outbreak of the war in 2022. Europe allocated roughly EUR 4.2 billion in new aid, which is insufficient to compensate for the decline in US support.
After a record-high first half of 2025, military aid from Europe sharply declined over the summer and continued to fall in September and October. Annual allocations from all donors averaged EUR 41.6 billion in 2022–2024, but only EUR 32.5 billion has been allocated so far in 2025.
To reach previous levels, an additional EUR 9.1 billion would be needed by the end of the year, requiring a monthly allocation rate more than twice as high as recent months.
The slowdown in European support varies across countries. France, Germany, and the UK substantially increased their contributions compared to 2022–2024, with Germany nearly tripling its monthly allocations. Yet, even these major economies lag behind Nordic countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden in relative terms. Italy and Spain contributed very little, with Italy reducing its already low allocations by 15 percent and Spain providing no new aid in 2025.
Experts emphasize that while some European states have increased support, overall European aid is insufficient to replace missing US military assistance. The uneven contributions highlight the need for more balanced burden-sharing across the continent to sustain Ukraine’s defense capabilities.
The Kiel Institute previously reported that military aid to Ukraine dropped sharply in the summer of 2025, falling 43% compared to the first half of the year, despite the launch of NATO’s PURL initiative. European countries, which stepped in after the US stopped announcing new aid, reduced their allocations by 57%, while financial and humanitarian support remained stable at €7.5 billion.
The Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) is a NATO and US-led initiative launched in July 2025 to streamline international military assistance to Ukraine. Under the mechanism, participating countries pool financial contributions into a single fund, which the United States uses to procure American-made weapons and equipment based on a priority list. PURL replaces fragmented national procurement with a coordinated system designed to deliver critical military aid more quickly and efficiently, particularly for air defence systems and ammunition.
As of December 2025, 21 countries have joined PURL, bringing total financial commitments to $4.18 billion. Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts at NATO headquarters in Brussels alone generated nearly $1 billion in new pledges, with five new countries joining the initiative and eight existing contributors increasing their support.
For the first time, membership expanded beyond NATO, with Australia and New Zealand formally signing on, reflecting a broad coalition determined to accelerate deliveries of priority equipment to Ukraine.
As The Gaze reported earlier, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine requires $15 billion each year to fully fund the NATO-backed Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List.
Read more on The Gaze: PURL and the New Era of Western Support: Funding in Europe, Weapons in America, Results in Ukraine