by Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow, July 15 2025
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has become by far the top recipient of U.S. foreign aid. This marks the first time that a European country has held the top spot since the Harry Truman administration directed vast sums into rebuilding the continent through the Marshall Plan after World War II. Yet, U.S. commitment has been called into question in 2025, with President Donald Trump freezing all military aid to Ukraine in early March, and then lifting the freeze shortly after, following cease-fire talks in Saudi Arabia.
This has been a familiar dynamic for the administration; in early July, the White House announced it would freeze the delivery of some weapons intended for Ukraine. A week later, it resumed shipment of the aid. Trump’s frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin has also grown as ceasefire talks have dragged on unsuccessfully. That same month, Trump announced a new plan to aid Ukraine that involved NATO allies paying for U.S. weapons and transferring them to Ukraine. Trump also threatened to levy up to 100 percent “secondary tariffs” on Russia and its trade partners if no deal to end the war is reached in fifty days.
How much money has the United States provided Ukraine?
The U.S. Congress has voted through five bills that have provided Ukraine with aid since the war began, doing so most recently in April 2024. The total budget authority under these bills—the “headline” figure often cited by news media—is $175 billion. The historic sums have helped a broad set of Ukrainian people and institutions, including refugees, law enforcement, and independent radio broadcasters, though most of the aid has been military-related. Dozens of other countries, including most members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU), are also providing large aid packages to Ukraine.
In late 2024, the United States also provided the Ukrainian government with a $20 billion loan, funded by interest generated from frozen Russian assets.
It’s important to note that of the total U.S. government spending related to the war, about $128 billion directly aids the government of Ukraine, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Most of the remainder has funded various U.S. activities associated with the war in Ukraine, and a small portion has supported other affected countries in the region.
How Much Aid Is Actually Going to Ukraine?
The Ukrainian government receives most, but not all, of the funding in the five U.S. supplemental appropriations bills passed since the invasion. Major U.S. spending in response to the war $195 billion April 2024 bill. From the total U.S. spending, about $128 billion worth of aid goes to the government of Ukraine.
Budget support $3.7 billion, Weapons, equipment, and other military support $70.6 billion Weapons and equipment are provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, Presidential Drawdown Authority, and Foreign Military Financing Program.
A large share of the money in the aid bills has been spent in the United States, paying for American factories and workers to produce the various weapons that are either shipped to Ukraine or that replenish the U.S. weapons stocks the Pentagon has drawn on during the war. One analysis by the American Enterprise Institute found that Ukraine aid is funding defense manufacturing in more than seventy U.S. cities.
The $128 billion figure counts committed aid, much of which has yet to be delivered, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies
Why has the United States provided aid to Ukraine?
Much of the U.S. aid has gone toward providing weapons systems, training, and intelligence that Ukrainian commanders need to defend against Russia, which has one of the world’s most powerful militaries. Many Western analysts say the military aid provided by the United States and other allies has played a pivotal role in Ukraine’s defense and counteroffensive against Russia. But in the past year, Russia has regained the battlefield initiative and retaken territory along the eastern front.
During the Joe Biden administration, the United States and top European allies considered Russia’s invasion a brutal and illegal war of aggression on NATO’s frontier that, if successful, would subjugate millions of Ukrainians; encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin’s revanchist aims; and invite similar aggression from other rival powers, especially China. But President Trump has sharply changed the U.S. position, at various times accusing Ukraine of starting and prolonging the war and presenting himself as an impartial broker looking to reach a peace deal in the near future.
What weapons and equipment has the United States sent Ukraine?
NATO allies are particularly wary of being pulled directly into the hostilities, which could dramatically raise the risk of a nuclear war. However, as the fighting has progressed, many donor governments have shed their reluctance to give Ukraine more sophisticated assets, such as battle tanks and modern fighter aircrafts. In the summer of 2023, the United States agreed to allow its European allies to provide Ukraine with U.S.-made F-16s. In addition, after widely broadcast friction between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a February 28 Oval Office visit, European nations such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have all stepped up pledges of support.
For nearly three years of war, the United States has provided or agreed to provide Ukraine with a long list of defense capabilities. In early 2024, the Biden administration started supplying Ukraine with significant numbers of long-range precision missiles, known as ATACMS, that can strike targets nearly 200 miles (322 kilometers) away. After some initial restrictions, the Biden administration in November permitted Ukraine’s first use of the ATACMS to strike inside Russian territory.
The aid to Ukraine compare to that for other recipients of U.S. assistance: Ukraine 2024 US$ 32,2 B, Israel 2024 US$ 12,58 B, Jordan 2023 US$ 1,7 B, Egypt US$ 1,5 B.
EU Aid to Ukraine US$ 107 B. While USA Aid to Ukraine US$ 71 B
Note: complete report pls click Council on Foreign Relations
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