A new report from the Kiel Institute reveals a significant decline in military aid to Ukraine during July and August. Under President Donald Trump, the US has halted military assistance to Ukraine, and European support for Kiev has dipped.
“After the US stopped announcing new aid packages at the beginning of 2025, European countries stepped in and significantly expanded their military support,” the Kiel Institute explained. “However, this momentum collapsed in the summer: military allocations from European countries fell by 57 percent compared to January–June 2025.”
President Donald Trump has criticized Joe Biden’s policy of providing Ukraine with over $100 billion in aid. The President has cut arms transfer to Ukraine, but has encouraged Europe to buy American weapons for Kiev.
Most of the military aid going to Ukraine is now through the NATO PURL initiative. Under the program, European countries fund US arms sales to Ukraine. While PURL was intended to replace the American aid to Ukraine, the Kiel Institute said it is only making up a small portion of what was provided to Kiev under President Biden.
“Even when their contributions to the NATO PURL initiative were included. The monthly average of all military aid during this period was thus 43 percent below the level of the first half of 2025,” the organization said.
While Trump has cut military aid to Ukraine, he has stepped up support for Kiev in other areas. The Financial Times revealed that the US is now helping Ukraine to plan attacks on Russian energy sites far from the front lines.
Additionally, Trump has stepped up the economic war against Russia and is threatening massive tariffs on Moscow’s trading partners.
NATO defense ministers are meeting on Wednesday to find a solution to the lack of arms flowing to Ukraine.
