Macron's interruption of Trump: Is he right? Who gives more money to Ukraine?
French President contradicts American in front of the press when he says that Europe has only given "loans" to Ukraine
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BarcelonaThe relationship between French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump has alternated between open rivalry and allegedjokeSince the tycoon arrived at the White House for the first time, his meetings have generated curious images that analysts have looked at with a magnifying glass to try to find out which of the two moments they are in. He interrupted Donald Trump to deny him live and corrected his statements about the aid that Europe provides to Ukraine. Ukraine. They get the money back...", Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, before his meeting with Macron. It is then that the French president interrupts Trump by gently placing his hand on his arm and intervenes to say: "No, in fact, to be honest, we have paid 60% of the total effort. It has been, like the United States, through loans, guarantees and grants, and we have put real money, let's be clear. We have 230 billion of frozen assets in Europe, Russian assets, but it is not like the guarantee of a loan, because they are not ours. So they are frozen. If in the end, in the negotiation that we will have with Russia, they are willing to give it to us, great. It would be a loan, in the end, and Russia would have paid for it."
A full-blown denial to which Donald Trump makes some gestures with his hands and face that denote skepticism and ends by saying: "If that's what you think, that's fine with me." known to have a propensity for lying However, Macron's explanation in this case is somewhat convoluted. Who of the two is right? Close monitoring of the money Ukraine has received In financial, military and humanitarian aid, since the beginning of the war on February 24, 2022, Europe has so far put more money than the United States into this cause. And the think tank The EU is talking about "allocations" of money, i.e. not loans. By this count, Europe has already provided 132.3 billion euros to Ukraine, compared to 114.2 billion euros (at current exchange rates) from the United States. In addition, the EU has pledged to provide another 115.1 billion in the future. Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the United States has given 350 billion to Ukraine, a figure that has been repeatedly contradicted by official data that match the Kiel Institute's figure.
The figures for European aid to Ukraine
The most up-to-date official data from the European Union The EU estimates aid to Ukraine at €135 billion (in line with the Kiel Institute's count), of which €67.7 billion is financial and humanitarian aid, around €48.7 billion is military aid, and another €17 billion is aid for hosting refugees. This figure also includes the first €1.5 billion disbursed from Russian financial assets frozen by the EU, which Macron mentioned. The agreement provides for offering Kiev $50 billion from profits derived from Russian assets frozen by the EU under its sanctions against Moscow.
In a summary of the European Union delegation to the United States,
In any case, what is clear to everyone in Brussels is that the money being provided to Ukraine is a non-refundable sum, as has been reiterated by various EU sources, and that there is no will (and even less real possibility, given the poor state of the Ukrainian economy) to recover that money.