No country has spent as much on Ukraine’s defense as the U.S. Ukraine has received a total of over $113 billion in American military, economic, and financial aid, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
This marks the largest flow of aid to a belligerent nation since the U.S. Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in 1941. That paved the way for the transfer of $51 billion in today’s dollars in aid. Countries receiving military assistance included the United Kingdom, the Free French, Chaing Kai-shek’s Nationalist government in China, and the Soviet Union, among others.
“The United States has provided billions in funding for Ukraine since the start of the war. The four supplemental aid packages passed by Congress to support Ukraine since the war began totals over $113.4 billion,” CSIS reported. “Appropriated in these packages is $62.3 billion for the Department of Defense, $46.1 billion for the Department of State and USAID, and $5 billion for other government agencies. The fourth package, which provided $48 billion, was approved in December 2022 by Congress.”
CSIS scholars Daniel F. Runde and Madeleine McLean continue: “The amount was meant to cover Ukraine’s needs through the end of this fiscal year, though there are some concerns that this will not be enough, and the Biden administration does not plan to ask for additional funds until the next fiscal year … The White House requested a further $20 billion last week. Thus far the aid has been essential at keeping Ukraine in the fight against Russia.”
U.S. assistance to Ukraine falls into three major categories: military, economic, and humanitarian aid. European countries that face a more imminent threat from Russia have given far less than the U.S. The Washington Post noted earlier this month that European Union had given Ukraine $35.9 billion; the United Kingdom had given $11.7 billion; and Germany had given $11.6 billion, rounding out the top three.
American taxpayers expect investments to be worthwhile. So far that’s an open question.
Israel warned in July that it had serious concerns that U.S.-supplied weapons were falling into Russian hands, being shipped to Iran, and reverse-engineered for use against Israel.
A Pentagon inspector general’s report found that weapons that were transferred to Ukraine often were improperly secured, and that they had ended up in the hands of criminal elements.
Ukraine is beginning to sound like Vietnam, and Americans are losing patience.
Aid to Ukraine with little to show for it is becoming increasingly unpopular among the American people. History shows that Americans do not support prolonged engagements. That was true with the Vietnam War. Public opinion turned against that conflict in the summer of 1966. The same happened with the Iraq invasion in the summer of 2004.