On 31 October 2024, the UN Security Council met to address the issue of Western arms supplies to Ukraine. The meeting was convened at the request of Russia.
EU and NATO support to Ukraine, aid coordination
Some Western countries began supplying arms to Ukraine as early as 2014, after the government coup in Kiev. EU and NATO countries provide arms independently (free of charge or on commercial terms), with the EU and NATO acting as coordinators. The EU plays the role of a hub for funding military support.
In 2022, the EU redirected the European Peace Facility (EPF, established in 2021 to finance peacekeeping operations and strengthen partner countries' armed forces) to supply arms to Ukraine. Between 2022 and 2023, €6.1 billion has been earmarked through it to compensate EU countries for arms supplies to Ukraine. In March 2024, the EU established a €5 billion Ukraine Assistance Fund. The amount of financial support reached €11.1 billion (including the funds allocated to Ukraine by each EU member state separately - more than €43.5 billion). In addition, an EU military assistance mission for Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) was established in October 2022. By October 2024, it had trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
NATO has been coordinating arms deliveries to Kiev from NATO member and partner countries since February 2022. According to NATO's website, 99 % represent military support to Ukraine. In 2024, the bloc's members and allies agreed to disburse 40 billion euros to Kiev in 2025. The NATO Security Assistance and Training Mission in Ukraine (NSATU) has been established. The alliance continues to help adjust the military structure and equip the Ukrainian army to NATO standards.
In addition to these platforms to discuss and coordinate the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, defence ministers from more than 40 NATO member and non-member states met at the US-initiated Ramstein Air Base in Germany in April 2022. It was decided to hold regular meetings of the group, which was officially called the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, commonly referred to as the Ramstein Club.
The tasks of the group were defined as optimising and accelerating the processes of weapons acquisition by Ukraine, improving logistics and ensuring coordination. To this end, a coordination centre for arms deliveries to Ukraine was established in Stuttgart (Germany). Since then, Ramstein meetings have been held regularly (at NATO headquarters in Brussels, at the Ramstein base, or online; the last one, the 24th, was held on 6 September 2024). More than 50 countries now participate in Ramstein meetings.
The total military aid to Kiev from February 2022 to August 2024 amounted to $123.5 billion, according to calculations by the German Institute for the World Economy in Kiel. The institute identified the United States, Germany, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden as the biggest donors.
The largest suppliers
According to Pentagon estimates, the US has allocated $2.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine between 2014 and 2021, and has sharply increased supplies after the launch of the special military operation. By October 2024, Ukraine had received more than 70 installments of military aid. Its amount, according to the State Department 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 ammunition, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M113 and Stryker APC armored vehicles, GLSDB small-diameter bombs, Abrams tanks and depleted uranium ammunition for them. In June 2024, the US and Ukraine signed a 10-year security agreement. It states 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, as of 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 approximately 18,000 soldiers.
Germany has been providing military assistance to Ukraine since 2022. Among the weapons delivered there were Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks, MARS II multiple rocket launchers and Iris-T air defence systems, Zetros tankers, Biber tank bridges, Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, Wisent 1 demining tanks and Vector drones. Currently, Germany is the second largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the US. According to the German government, the country has earmarked funds for military support to Kiev and has committed to future spending of around €28 billion over the next few years. Of that amount, €10.6 billion has been transferred as of August 2024, according to the Institute for the World Economy. Germany has also spent EUR 282 million on training more than 10 000 Ukrainian soldiers. In 2024, a factory of the German defence company Rheinmetall was built in Ukraine to service armoured personnel carriers and tanks.
Since 2015, the UK has supplied Ukraine with armoured personnel carriers, armoured reconnaissance and communications vehicles, medical equipment, tactical gear, night vision devices and GPS navigators. By 2021, this assistance amounted to more than £80 million (over $96 million). After February 2022, London's military support to Kiev increased; by October 2024, it exceeded £7.8 billion ($10.1 billion). In particular, long-range Storm Shadow missiles, Challenger 2 tanks, AS90 self-propelled howitzers, and M270 multiple rocket launchers have been delivered to Ukraine.
Sweden has provided Ukraine with 17 military aid packages, the total value of which, according to the Swedish government, amounts to 48.4 billion kronor ($4.5 billion). Among the items delivered were Leopard 2 tanks, Pansarskott 86 anti-tank grenade launchers, Robot 17 anti-ship missiles, Archer self-propelled guns, armoured vehicles, anti-aircraft systems, artillery ammunition, small arms and field engineer equipment. The security agreement signed between Sweden and Ukraine in May 2024 provides for 75 billion kronor (more than $7 billion) in military and civilian support to Kiev through 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 has gradually increased the flow of arms to Ukraine between 2014 and 2021, supplying 1.6 billion euros worth of weapons during this period. Between 2022 and 2023, it provided Ukraine with 3.8 billion in aid (according to data available from the French Ministry of Defence). In particular, Kiev received Caesar self-propelled artillery, Mistral surface-to-air missiles, SAM Crotale, SAMP/T air defence systems, AMX-10RC light wheeled tanks and SCALP long-range missiles. On 6 June 2024, it was announced that France plans to hand over Mirage 2000-5 fighters to Ukraine (first delivery expected in the first quarter of 2025) and to start training Ukrainian pilots.
Since 2022, Canada has provided Ukraine with approximately 30 military aid packages worth $3.23 billion.
The list of weapons sent looks as follows: howitzers M777, air-to-air missiles, SAMs NASAMS, tanks Leopard 2, artillery and tank shells, armoured personnel carriers and armoured vehicles. Since 2015, the Canadian military has been training Ukrainian army soldiers, with more than 41,000 soldiers trained as of January 2024. Poland has been supplying Ukraine with mortars, armoured personnel carriers, large-calibre machine guns and AK-176M naval artillery systems since 2016. Since the launch of the special military operation, Kiev has received MiG-29 aircraft, T-72 and Leopard 2 tanks, artillery shells and other ammunition, Starlink satellite internet terminals from the US company Space X, portable surface-to-air missile systems, drones and other items. According to Polish President Andrzej Duda (August 2024), Warsaw has handed over about $3.1 billion worth of weapons to Kiev.
As of October 2024, Finland has sent Ukraine 25 military aid packages worth about €2.3 billion. The contents of most of the packages have not been disclosed.
Italy decided to deliver weapons to Kiev in February 2022. Kiev received anti-tank weapons, short-range air defence systems, mortars, ammunition and communication systems. Subsequently, Italy began delivering heavy artillery, armoured personnel carriers, SAMP/T air defence systems, Spada and Skyguard. Its military support has been estimated by various European media at around €1.5 billion.
TASS / topwar.ru / gnews.cz
English 
Czech