Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands formed the core group funding Ukraine's defense in 2025, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy reports in a policy brief published in February 2026.
These six countries dominated across all three channels of military support: bilateral aid packages, procurement from Ukraine's defense industry, and purchases of US weapons through a new NATO mechanism.
The backdrop was the near-complete halt of US support. Between 2022 and 2024, the United States allocated on average EUR 17.3 billion per year in military aid. In 2025, US assistance amounted to a single package worth EUR 0.4 billion, according to the Kiel data. European donors filled much of the gap, increasing military aid by 67% in real terms relative to the 2022–2024 average.
Germany led all donors with EUR 9 billion in military aid — up approximately 130% over its three-year average. The United Kingdom followed at EUR 5.4 billion, up roughly 66%. But the next largest contributors were not Europe's other major economies: Sweden allocated EUR 3.7 billion, Norway EUR 3.6 billion, and Denmark EUR 2.6 billion. All three surpassed 0.6% of GDP in military aid — a level unmatched elsewhere in Europe.
The regional disparity is among the report's most striking findings. Northern Europe accounts for just 8% of the combined GDP of the 31 European countries in the tracker, yet provided 33% of military aid in 2025. Southern Europe, with 19% of GDP, contributed just 3%. Italy's recorded allocation was EUR 0.3 billion — less than the single US package announced in January.
Finland and the Baltic states, among the earliest and most generous donors as a share of GDP, allocated somewhat less in 2025 than in previous years, the data shows. These frontline nations drew down stockpiles heavily in 2022 and are now prioritizing their own rearmament.
A key development was the NATO Prioritized Ukraine Requirement List (PURL), launched in July 2025 following discussions between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and US President Donald Trump. The mechanism lets non-US allies pool funds to buy weapons from US military stockpiles. By December, 24 donors had allocated more than EUR 3.7 billion, led by the Netherlands and Norway (each over EUR 700 million), Germany (approximately EUR 600 million), and Canada (approximately EUR 550 million). Eight packages were approved, including Patriot systems, HIMARS, and ammunition. As of December, NATO PURL accounted for approximately 75% of Patriot missiles and nearly 90% of other air defense missiles delivered to Ukraine, the report states.
The mechanism reversed a structural trend: stockpile-based aid had fallen from 60% of military aid in 2022 to just 7% in the first half of 2025. NATO PURL pushed it back to 35% in the second half.
Trending Now
Another trend was direct procurement from Ukraine's defense industry, whose production capacity grew 35-fold between 2022 and 2025, reaching a projected USD 35 billion. The "Danish Model," launched in July 2024 with a contract for 18 Bohdana howitzers, channeled EUR 830 million by December 2025. The Netherlands developed its own variant, allocating EUR 790 million primarily for drones. At least 11 countries now participate. Procurement from Ukraine's defense sector rose from 4% of procurement-based aid in late 2024 to 22% in the second half of 2025.
Under the EUR 90 billion Ukraine Support Fund agreed by the EU Council in December 2025, EUR 60 billion is earmarked for Ukraine's defense industry, the report states — signaling further growth ahead.
