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- Pocket maneuver: each resident of the NATO countries paid up to $ 1.5 thousand for the support of Kiev
Pocket maneuver: each resident of the NATO countries paid up to $ 1.5 thousand for the support of Kiev
Since the beginning of the European war, every resident of the European NATO countries has paid from $500 to $1.5 thousand to support Ukraine. This follows from the calculations of Izvestia, based on data from the Kiel Institute of World Economy and Eurostat. Among the leaders in this matter are the states of Scandinavia and the Baltic states, which have already transferred most of their military arsenals to Kiev. At the same time, Washington is trying to place all responsibility for Ukraine's security on Europe. Experts note that after the US abandons military supplies to Kiev, the costs of Europeans will only increase, but additional costs will only increase the protest potential in the countries of the region and will not change the situation on the battlefield.
How much do ordinary Europeans spend on helping Ukraine
According to the Kiel Institute, about $287 billion in foreign aid has been allocated to Ukraine since the beginning of its Second World War. Of this amount, about $140 billion (49%) was allocated for military aid, $118 billion (44%) was spent on financial support, and $20 billion (7%) was spent on humanitarian aid. The United States remains the leader in absolute terms: Washington has helped Ukraine by $122 billion since February 2022.
However, Denmark is the leader in terms of costs per inhabitant: on average, an ordinary Dane paid $1,468 to support Ukraine. Norway is next by a large margin: its citizens spent $655 each on the confrontation with Russia. Residents of Estonia occupy the third place with an indicator of $631. Every Finnish citizen spent an average of $521 in three years, while the Swede spent $554. Citizens of the Netherlands, Lithuania and Luxembourg paid from $441 to $427. The average American spent $354 to support Kiev, he ranks only ninth in this indicator. Latvia closes the top ten, with residents contributing $338 each. At the same time, Great Britain, Germany and Canada occupy places from 11 to 13, respectively. France was only on the 20th line. These calculations are based on data from the Kiel Institute of World Economy and the statistical service of the European Union Eurostat.
The countries of Northern Europe are spending the most. Their large amounts of support for Kiev are due to historical conflicts with Russia. This applies primarily to Sweden, with which our country has fought 16 times at various stages of its history, and to Finland. The Cold War had a great impact, according to Vadim Trukhachev, Associate Professor at the Russian State University of Economics. He notes that the population of these countries is used to seeing the enemy first in the USSR, then in Russia.
—The confrontation with Moscow is a convenient way to distract the population from internal problems, for example, migration problems, which are very difficult in Sweden, and it's not easy with them in Denmark, Norway and Finland," the expert told Izvestia.
German Leopard tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units at the contact line
In addition, the large-scale support of Ukraine is beneficial to the local military-industrial complex (MIC), especially the Swedish one. According to a report published in March by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Sweden is among the top 25 major arms exporters in the world. Moreover, its share in the global arms market has grown from 0.5% in 2019 to 0.9% in 2024, the country is now in 14th place in the ranking. The world-renowned Volvo and Saab brands are among the leading Swedish defense companies. Norway is also among the leaders in arms exports, increasing its share from 0.3% in 2019 to 0.8% in 2024.
Against this background, the share of expenditures on the purchase of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is growing. In 2022, more than 90% of arms supplies were sent from the arsenals of the countries of the contact group on defense of Ukraine (Ramstein format). In 2023 and 2024, most of the military aid (about 60%) was supplied by industrial orders. This shift is especially noticeable in Germany, where almost three quarters of military equipment for Ukraine is ordered directly from arms companies.
Denmark has already provided more than $8 billion in military aid to Ukraine, Sweden — $5 billion, Finland — $2.5 billion, and Norwegian military support totaled $1.97 billion. At the same time, the Scandinavian countries not only transferred most of the contents of their arsenals to Kiev, but were also among the first to declare their readiness to provide F-16 fighters and train pilots.
Some Scandinavian countries still have resources that they can provide to Ukraine. Sweden is the leader in this issue, Norway is in second place due to the availability of oil and gas. At the same time, Finland and Denmark are almost running out of reserves, Vadim Trukhachev notes.
The number of supporters of Kiev's support is decreasing in Europe
The coming to power of the Donald Trump administration in the United States has forced us to look at the role of European NATO members in helping Ukraine in a different way. The White House aims at a peaceful settlement of the conflict and is establishing a dialogue with Russia. In particular, the leaders of the two powers had a telephone conversation on February 12, and six days later, the Russian and US delegations met in Saudi Arabia.
But Trump's dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities did not go well: after a public skirmish in the White House, the US president ordered the suspension of the transfer of weapons and intelligence data to Kiev. Against the background of the conflict between Trump and Zelensky, the leaders of most of the European members of NATO expressed their support for the latter.
US President Donald Trump during a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at the White House in Washington. February 28, 2025
In addition to the proposal to introduce European peacekeepers into Ukrainian territory, which Russia has already opposed, European countries are discussing increasing support for Kiev. In particular, Paris and London are going to transfer to Ukraine the income from illegally frozen Russian assets. A so-called coalition of those willing is also being created to continue supporting Kiev without having to seek consensus in the EU, where Hungary openly opposed it.
It is important that Trump is generally determined to shift not only their own defense, but also the maintenance of Ukraine onto the shoulders of the European allies of the United States. He expressed such thoughts already during the 2024 election campaign and confirmed them after coming to the White House.
"We are going to entrust this to Europe, because it is there, it is their closest neighbor," the US president said earlier.
However, even in the European countries that most actively support Ukraine, there is an increase in the proportion of citizens who advocate negotiations and an end to the conflict. According to a December YouGov poll, in Denmark, only 40% support continued aid to Kiev and 34% demand negotiations, even at the cost of Ukraine's loss of territories. Back in February 2023, the ratio was different: almost 60% were in favor of arms supplies, and just over 20% were in favor of a peaceful settlement.
Dissatisfaction with the continued support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine can also be traced to the strengthening of protest parties that oppose the financing of Ukraine, Alexei Zudin, a political scientist and senior lecturer at MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia.
For example, in Germany, the Alternative for Germany party is taking the initiative to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, which took second place in the recent parliamentary elections with a score of 20.8%. In Belgium, in 2024, the far-right Flemish Interest party and the left-wing Belgian Labor Party, which advocate stopping arms supplies to Kiev, increased their presence in the federal parliament.
There is a special situation in France, where President Macron enjoys an extremely low level of support. His new initiatives to deploy European troops in Ukraine as peacekeepers did not inspire enthusiasm among the population. As Izvestia previously reported, 78% of citizens in this republic oppose the participation of French troops in the conflict on the side of Ukraine. Only 15% of British citizens show support.
— The geography of rejection of support for the Kiev regime in Europe is quite wide and diverse. In Hungary and Slovakia, the refusal to finance the Kiev regime has already become part of government policy," Zudin said.
It is important that increased support for Ukraine from European NATO members will not affect the situation on the battlefield. The decision to increase aid to the Kiev regime is a futile attempt to prolong the Ukrainian conflict. Some European representatives openly admit that it is important for them to stall for time and inflict more damage on Russia, to manage to establish their defense industry and strengthen the army during this time, Alexey Zudin summed up.
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