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New US aid commitments much lower than reported
The Ukraine Support Tracker has shifted its focus to measuring "allocations". These are concrete aid packages that have already been delivered or were specified for delivery. This is made possible by better and more transparent data from the governments. Due to a lack of transparency, previously the focus had to be more on "commitments," meaning future promised aid, which were typically less specific.
In March and April 2024, total new allocations among European donors equaled 9.8 billion Euros, and about 7 billion Euros from the US, financed through the recently passed package.
With its new aid bill total US commitments rise to 98.7 billion Euros, with 24.7 billion Euros remaining to be allocated. For Europe, commitments have also increased to 177.9 billion Euros, but the gap with allocations amount remains high, as 75.8 billion Euros are left to be allocated.
Most of the new USD 31.5 billion US aid commitments, USD 13.7 billion, are for the procurement of new weapons. In addition, “Presidential Drawdown Authority”, which enables the US President to provide rapid military assistance from stocks, will be increased by USD 7.8 billion. The new package also includes USD 1.6 billion under the US Foreign Military Financing program for the purchase of US military equipment or services. In addition to this military aid, the package will provide financial assistance to Ukraine with funding totaling USD 7.9 billion.
“The new US aid bill provides important funding for military support to Ukraine. However, the commitments for Ukraine are relatively small compared to previous bills and aid disbursements thus far seem to be slow”, says Christoph Trebesch, Head of the Ukraine Support Tracker.
Missing air defense equipment
Of the USD 7.3 billion (6.8 billion Euros) in military allocations by the US in March and April following the passing of the bill, approximately USD 6 billion was for the procurement of various weapons from the US defense industry, including air defense ammunition, such as Patriot or NASAMS missiles.
Neither the new US packages nor the latest European packages, however, contain components urgently needed for air defense systems requested by Ukraine. There is still a large discrepancy between crucial parts such as launchers for these systems made available to Ukraine, and the stocks held by the donor states. At pre-war levels, the US had 480 launchers for Patriot-like systems in stock, while France had 40, Germany had 30, Italy 20, and the Netherlands had 18 . Relative to the large national stockpiles of these air defense launchers, the contributions to Ukraine are miniscule. Only 44, or just 7 percent of total, were allocated to Ukraine so far, taking into account only stockpiles of countries which delivered for Ukrainian air defense so far.
"Despite repeated pleas from Ukraine, the provision of anti-aircraft systems remains insufficient," says Christoph Trebesch, "It is surprising that donations have been particularly slow on defensive weapons whose main purpose is to protect civilians and civil infrastructure from Russian bombing. On air defense, Ukraine needs more coordinated and active response from Western allies."
About the Ukraine Support Tracker
The Ukraine Support Tracker tracks and quantifies military, financial, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since January 24, 2022 (currently through April 2024). Included are 41 countries, specifically the EU member states, the other members of the G7, Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, Turkey, China, Taiwan, India, and Iceland. It includes aid from the governments of these countries to the Ukrainian government; aid from the EU Commission and the European Investment Bank is listed separately; private donations or those from international organizations such as the IMF are not included in the main database. Nor does it include aid to Ukraine's neighbors, such as Moldova, or to other countries, such as for the reception of refugees.
Data sources include official government announcements and international media reports. Aid in kind, such as medical supplies, food, or military equipment, is estimated using market prices or information from previous relief operations. In cases of doubt, the higher available value is used. The Ukraine Support Tracker is constantly being expanded, corrected and improved. Feedback and comments on our methodology paper and dataset are very welcome. You can reach us at ukrainetracker@ifw-kiel.de or use our online feedback form.
More information and all detailed data can be found on the Ukraine Support Tracker webpage.
