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US data does not support Trump's claims about Ukraine spending

2025-02-20 23:46:33Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
US data does not support Trump's claims about Ukraine spending
Ukrainian soldier

President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated the claim that the United States has spent $350 billion on the war in Ukraine — a figure higher than data recorded by the Defense Department and the interagency watchdog group that tracks spending on Ukraine.

Since Russia's large-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, the United States Congress has approved a fund of about $183 billion for Ukraine, according to the interagency oversight group responsible for compiling reports sent to Congress.

Of this figure, the Pentagon confirmed to Voice of America that the US has provided $65.9 billion in military aid to Ukraine, while another $3.9 billion, authorized by Congress as military aid to Kiev, has not yet been spent.

About $58 billion, out of the $183 billion total for Ukraine, has been spent in the US, going directly to bolstering the US defense industry, whether by replacing old armaments given to Kiev with new American-made weapons, purchasing new US-made weapons for Kiev, or making direct investments in the US military industry.

VOA asked the White House to clarify President Trump's comments, specifically requesting documentation regarding the data discrepancy. The White House responded by asking VOA to refer to the President's statements.

In a post on his Truth Social network on Wednesday, President Trump called President Zelenskyy "a comedian with modest success" who "managed to convince the United States of America to spend $350 billion, to enter a war that could not be won, that should never have been started, but a war that he (Zelenskyy), without the US and "TRUMP", would never be able to solve. An unelected dictator who better act quickly, otherwise he will have no country left."

President Zelenskyy told Ukrainian journalists on Wednesday that the total cost of the war as of February 2022 was about $320 billion.

"One hundred and twenty billion of this amount comes from us, the people of Ukraine, taxpayers, and $200 billion from the United States and the European Union," President Zelensky said. "This is the cost of armaments. This is the armament package - $320 billion."

President Trump, who has mentioned the $350 billion figure several times, also wrote on his social media on Wednesday that "The United States has spent $200 billion more than Europe and Europe's money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing in return."

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German nonprofit that tracks military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, says that European countries — particularly the EU, Britain, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland — have provided a total of about $140 billion in aid to Ukraine, while the United States has provided about $120 billion in aid. This total includes military, humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine.

The United States has provided $2 billion more than Europe in military aid to Ukraine, but "European donors have been the main source of assistance to Ukraine since 2022, particularly when it comes to financial and humanitarian assistance," the institute's latest report published last week said.

Aid to Ukraine represents a very small share of the gross domestic product of some countries. For example, the United States, Germany and Britain have mobilized less than 0.2% of their GDP to support Kiev, while France, Italy and Spain's contributions to Ukraine are as much as 0.1% of their GDP.

The US government's budget calculations are complex and the spending is massive. According to a program that tracks US government spending in real time, the government has spent about $2.4 trillion in the first half of fiscal year 2025. In the previous year, spending was $6.75 trillion for the entire year.

Researchers dispute the accuracy of the figures given by President Trump.

“The number is not real,” said Liana Fix, a Europe researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations. “It is possible to track how much the United States has spent on Ukraine.”/VOA


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