How has the aid that Ukraine receives changed since Trump is in power?

BarcelonaDonald Trump, who in his election campaign promised to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, began his second term by starring in an extremely tense meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, where he did not hide his disdain for the Ukrainian leader. That set off alarms in Kyiv and, although the two leaders apparently eased the tension, it has become clear in recent days that Trump continues to belittle the Ukrainian president, whom he points to as the culprit for not being able to reach a peace agreement while celebrating the alleged willingness of Vladimir Putin. And in all this context, aid from the United States to Ukraine has remained blocked for almost two years, since Trump returned to the White House.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine became the main recipient of foreign aid from the United States: it was the first time that a European country had occupied the top spot in this ranking since the Marshall Plan to rebuild the continent after the Second World War.

During Joe Biden's term, the US Congress approved five bills to help Ukraine, with which 164 billion dollars (about 146 billion euros) were allocated to the country at war, of which 70 billion (about 62 billion euros) were for military aid. However, not all this money has gone directly to Kyiv; rather, these items include activities associated with the war, such as the US military presence in Europe.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which keeps a comprehensive track of the money that Ukraine has received, does provide direct aid data: the United States has sent a total of 115.38 billion euros to Kyiv, of which 64.62 billion corresponds to military aid. These figures have not moved since January 2025.

Trump has not requested Congressional approval for any new military assistance funding for Ukraine and Washington has also withdrawn from the leadership of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been coordinating military assistance since the beginning of the conflict, now led by Germany and the United Kingdom. Following the change in US policy, these two European countries have become the main donors of military assistance to Ukraine.

Since Trump's return, Europe has significantly increased aid to Ukraine, even though the sum of all European countries and European Union institutions already exceeded the assistance effort to Kyiv before. Between February 2022 and January 2025, Europe allocated 133.65 billion euros, compared to Washington's 115.38 billion. Over the last 22 months, data collected by the Kiel Institute shows how practically all the aid that Ukraine has received has come from Europe, with the exception of about 6.5 billion euros from Canada, of which 3 billion was in the military sphere.

Dependence on American weaponry

However, Europe continues to depend on American weaponry to help Ukraine. According to the Kiel Institute, during the first half of 2026, the proportion of weaponry manufactured in the US in European military aid increased, both in terms of material that was already in European arsenals and, above all, in the purchase of new material from American defense companies, which has soared especially this last year. As the conflict drags on, the weight of acquisitions of new material increases, while aid based on existing stocks decreases.

Although Trump has made it clear that he does not intend to allocate more money to help Ukraine, he does allow the sale of American weapons, through what is known as PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List), with which NATO members pay the US to send military material to Kyiv. Through this program, it has been possible to send crucial weapons for the defense of Ukraine, such as Patriot missiles, although this has also stopped. In fact, this Friday, the CNN network reported that the Ukrainian army has run out of this type of missile, one of the few defensive weapons capable of shooting down Russian ballistic missiles, which the United States has had to use in the war in the Middle East, a conflict that has depleted American reserves of war material.

Ukraine needs both Patriot batteries – the launchers, the radar, and the command system – and compatible interceptor missiles, which are exhausted with use. This Friday, Zelensky said from Brussels that European allies have enough missiles of this type for the country to get through the winter with the capacity to defend itself from Russia. Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Greece are some of the countries that have Patriot systems and missiles.