TASS FACTBOX. On October 31, 2024, the UN Security Council will meet in session to consider the issue of Western arms supplies to Ukraine. The meeting was called at Russia's request. TASS FACTBOX editors present an overview of the Western countries’ military support for Ukraine.
EU, NATO’s support for Ukraine, coordination of assistance
Some Western countries started supplying weapons to Ukraine as early as 2014, following the government coup in Kiev. The supplies went into high gear after the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The EU and NATO countries provide weapons independently (free of charge or on commercial terms), with EU and NATO acting as coordinators. The EU plays the role of a center for financing military support.
In 2022, the EU redirected the European Peace Facility (EPF, established in 2021 to finance peacekeeping operations and the strengthening of partner countries' armed forces) to supply arms to Ukraine. In 2022-2023, 6.1 billion euros was allocated through it to compensate for the EU countries’ arms supplies to Ukraine. In March 2024, the EU set up a 5 billion-euro Ukraine Assistance Fund. The amount of financial support reached 11.1 billion euros (in combination with the funds allocated to Ukraine by each EU member state separately - more than 43.5 billion euros). In addition, the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) was established in October 2022. By October 2024 it had trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops.
NATO has been coordinating arms deliveries to Kiev from the alliance’s member and partner countries since February 2022. According to NATO's website, they account for 99% of military support for Ukraine. In 2024, the bloc’s members and allies agreed to disburse 40 billion euros to Kiev in 2025. A NATO Security Assistance and Training Mission for Ukraine (NSATU) was established. The alliance continues to assist the adjustment of military structure and equip the Ukrainian army according to NATO standards.
In addition to these platforms for discussing the possibility of providing military assistance to Ukraine and coordinating its delivery, in April 2022, defense ministers from more than 40 NATO and non-NATO member-states met at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany at the US initiative. It was decided to hold regular meetings of what was officially called the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group, commonly referred to as the Ramstein club. The tasks of the group were defined as optimizing and accelerating the processes of Ukraine obtaining weapons, improving logistics, and ensuring coordination. For this purpose, a coordination center for arms deliveries to Ukraine was established in Stuttgart (Germany). From that moment on Ramstein meetings have been held regularly (at NATO headquarters in Brussels, at the Ramstein base or online; the latest, 24th, was on September 6, 2024). Now more than 50 countries participate in Ramstein meetings.
The total military aid to Kiev from February 2022 to August 2024, according to calculations by Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, amounted to $123.5 billion. The Institute named the United States, Germany, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden as the largest donors.
Largest suppliers
The US, according to Pentagon estimates, allocated $2.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2014-2021, and sharply increased deliveries after the start of the special military operation. By October 2024, Ukraine had received more than 70 installments of military aid. Its size, according to a Department of State report, reached $64.1 billion (almost $66.9 billion since 2014). Among the weapons provided were HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, JDAM guidance kits, Switchblade loitering munitions, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M113 and Stryker APCs, GLSDB small diameter bombs, Abrams tanks and depleted uranium shells for them. In June 2024, the US and Ukraine signed a 10-year security agreement. It notes that the United States intends to provide assistance to Kiev related to the provision of military products, intelligence, military training, and the development of the military-industrial complex. In addition, since 2014. The US has been sending instructors to Ukraine on a rotational basis to train military personnel. According to Associated Press estimates (January 2024), US military specialists have trained about 18,000 servicemen.
Germany has been providing military assistance to Ukraine since 2022. Among the weapons supplied there were Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks, MARS II multiple rocket launchers and Iris-T air defense systems, Zetros refueling vehicles, Biber tank bridge-layers, Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, Wisent 1 mine-clearing tanks, and Vector UAVs. Currently, Germany is the second largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the US. According to the FRG’s government, the country has allocated funds for military support to Kiev and committed to future expenditures in the coming years in an amount of about 28 billion euros. Of this amount, 10.6 billion euros has been transferred as of August 2024, according to the Institute for World Economics. Germany also spent 282 million euros on training more than 10,000 Ukrainian military personnel. In 2024, a factory of the German defense company Rheinmetall was built in Ukraine to service APCs and tanks.
Britain has been supplying Ukraine with armored personnel carriers, armored reconnaissance and communication vehicles, medical equipment, tactical gear, night vision devices, and GPS navigators since 2015. The aid amounted to more than 80 million pounds (more than $96 million) through 2021. After February 2022, London built up military support for Kiev; by October 2024, it exceeded 7.8 billion pounds ($10.1 billion). In particular, long-range Storm Shadow missiles, Challenger 2 tanks, AS90 self-propelled howitzers and M270 multiple rocket launchers were delivered to Ukraine.
Denmark, from February 2022 to October 2024, according to the Foreign Ministry, provided about 7 billion euros in assistance (it included both direct military supplies and arms purchases for Ukraine from other countries). Copenhagen handed over to Ukraine small arms, large-caliber machine guns, anti-tank mines, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery systems and ammunition. Together with the Netherlands, Denmark has financed the delivery to Ukraine of Leopard 2 tanks manufactured by Germany's Rheinmetall. In August 2023, Copenhagen promised Kiev 19 F-16 fighter jets, the first of which were handed over to the Ukrainian side in August 2024.
The Netherlands, according to the Defense Ministry (as of October 2024) has allocated nearly 4 billion euros to Ukraine since the start of the special military operation (out of the budgeted 10.4 billion-euro military allocations to Kiev). This support includes Thales Squire radars, demining robots, Stinger MANPADS, PzH2000 artillery systems, Patriot SAMs and F-16 fighter jets. The first six F-16s were delivered on August 1, 2024, with the Netherlands promising to send to Ukraine a total of 24 aircraft of this class. Denmark and the Netherlands have led an "F-16 coalition" that is training Ukrainian pilots. In the near future, the Netherlands plans to allocate about 400 million euros for the joint development of unmanned aerial vehicles with Ukraine.
Sweden has supplied Ukraine with 17 military aid packages, their total value, according to the country's government, standing at 48.4 billion kronor ($4.5 billion). Among the items supplied there were Leopard 2 tanks, Pansarskott 86 anti-tank grenade launchers, Robot 17 anti-ship missiles, Archer self-propelled artillery pieces, armored vehicles, anti-aircraft systems, artillery ammunition, small arms, and field engineering equipment. The security agreement signed between Sweden and Ukraine in May 2024 provides for military and civilian support to Kiev in an amount of 75 billion kronor (more than $7 billion) for the period until 2026, as well as the transfer of Saab-340 long-range radar detection and control aircraft to the Ukrainian military. Stockholm is also considering the possibility of transferring JAS 39 Gripen aircraft to Ukraine.
Other countries
France gradually increased the flow of arms to Ukraine in 2014-2021, supplying 1.6 billion euros worth of weapons during that period. In 2022-2023, it provided Ukraine with 3.8 billion in assistance (according to data available from the French Defense Ministry). In particular, Kiev received Caesar self-propelled artillery pieces, Mistral surface-to-air missiles, Crotale SAMs, SAMP/T air defense systems, AMX-10RC light wheeled tanks, and SCALP long-range missiles. On June 6, 2024 France was reported to be planning to hand over Mirage 2000-5 fighters to Ukraine (the first delivery is expected in the first quarter of 2025) and to start training Ukrainian pilots.
Since 2022, Canada has provided Ukraine with about 30 military aid packages $3.23 billion worth.
The list of weapons sent looks as follows: M777 howitzers, air-to-air missiles, NASAMS SAMs, Leopard 2 tanks, artillery and tank shells, armored personnel carriers, and armored vehicles. Since 2015, the Canadian military has been training soldiers of the Ukrainian army, with more than 41,000 troops trained as of January 2024.
Poland has been supplying mortars, armored personnel carriers, large-caliber machine guns, and AK-176M shipborne artillery systems to Ukraine since 2016. Since the start of the special military operation Kiev has received MiG-29 airplanes, T-72 and Leopard 2 tanks, artillery shells and other ammunition, Starlink satellite Internet terminals of the US company Space X, portable surface-to-air missile systems, unmanned aerial vehicles and other items. According to Polish President Andrzej Duda (August 2024), Warsaw has transferred about $3.1 billion worth of arms to Kiev.
Finland, as of October 2024, has sent to Ukraine 25 military aid packages about 2.3 billion euros worth. The content of most of the packages was not disclosed.
Italy decided to supply weapons to Kiev in February 2022. Kiev received anti-tank weapons, short-range air defense systems, mortars, ammunition, and communication systems. Subsequently, Italy began supplying heavy artillery, armored personnel carriers, SAMP/T, Spada and Skyguard air defense systems. Its military support is estimated by various European media at be about 1.5 billion euros.