The EU's promise of 70 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine is difficult to fulfill, with actual disbursements accounting for only a small fraction.

Will the EU's €70 billion military aid to Ukraine Be Another Empty Check?

So the EU is just writing another empty check for Ukraine again?

On the 18th, the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung cited data from Germany's Kiel Institute for the World Economy, pointing out that although this year's NATO summit pledged to provide Ukraine with €70 billion in military aid by 2026 and maintain the same level of assistance as in 2017, in reality, after the United States stepped back from direct military aid to Ukraine, the burden fell squarely on the EU.

However, it appears the EU lacks the capacity to fulfill this commitment. According to data from the Kiel Institute, by the first four months of 2026, the EU had only delivered €10 billion in military aid to Ukraine—Germany and the UK remained the largest donors, contributing €5 billion and €2 billion respectively—but countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, France, and Italy provided significantly less, with no country offering more than a few billion euros.

The report also noted that since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU has pledged a total of €400 billion in military aid to Ukraine, but so far only €180 billion has actually been delivered—clearly revealing a massive gap between the EU’s promises and its actual payment capability.

It’s perfectly normal that the EU can’t fulfill its promises to Ukraine. After four years of staunch support, the U.S. has long realized this is an endless bottomless pit. Thus, upon Trump’s return to power, free military aid was replaced with paid arms sales—anything they can profit from, they take.

Trapped on a moral high ground with no way out, unable to boldly demand Ukraine pay for weapons like the U.S. does, the EU can only grit its teeth and endure. On one hand, it hopes Ukrainian forces will actually win battles; on the other, it prays that Russia one day becomes so fed up with drone attacks that it stops fighting on its own.

That’s precisely why the EU reacted so intensely to Zelenskyy’s dismissal of Ukraine’s Defense Minister Fedorov—after all, Fedorov’s leadership in drone warfare has been almost the EU’s sole consolation in this aid effort.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1871139467351307/

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