PARIS, Feb 16, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The European Union will have to double its
military support to Ukraine to fill a gap left by the United States after
months of blockage of new aid by Congress, a research institute that monitors
assistance said on Friday.

With existing funding having already dried up, Republicans in the US House of
Representatives are blocking authorising $60 billion in new military aid
despite Ukrainian commanders and Western officials have said in recent days
that Ukrainian troops are running out of ammunition.

"It is highly uncertain whether the US will send further military aid in
2024," the Germany-based Kiel Institute said in report on the state of play
of military, financial and humanitarian aid to the war-battered country since
the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.

According to its data up to January 15, 2024, the United States has sent 42.2
billion euros ($45.4 billion) in military aid to Ukraine between February
2022 and December 2023, at a rate of around two billion euros a month.

The European Union and its 27 members have promised 49.7 billion euros of
military aid since the start of the war, but have delivered or earmarked just
35.2 billion euros.

"Europe will have to at least double its current military support efforts in
case there is no further support from the United States," said Christoph
Trebesch, head of the Ukraine Support Tracker and Research Director at the
Kiel Institute.

"This is a challenge, but just a question of political will. The EU countries
are among the richest in the world and so far they have spent not even one
percent of their 2021 GDP to support Ukraine."

A total of 265.1 billion euros have been pledged to Ukraine since February
2022, of which 141.3 billion in financial aid, 107.5 billion in military aid
and 16.3 billion in humanitarian aid.

The EU and its member states are the biggest donors with 144.1 billion euros,
the United States with 67.7 billion and the United Kingdom 15.7 billion.

But there is a big gap between pledges and money shelled out, especially in
the case of the EU, which has so far only allocated 77.2 billion. This is
because the bloc's pledges are spread over several years.

The halt in US military aid to Ukraine comes as the 2024 presidential
election gears up as Donald Trump appears set to cruise to the Republican
party nomination.

Trump opposes helping Ukraine's fight against Russia and recently used his
sway to kill a US border reform bill that would have also authorised
additional aid to Ukraine.

A return Trump to power in 2025 would sound the death knell for US aid to
Ukraine, experts say.

Europe has also been plagued by divisions over Ukraine.

Hungarian leader Viktor Orban blocked for months authorising an additional 50
billion euros of aid for Ukraine over four years, relenting only earlier this
month.

In Slovakia new populist Prime Minister Robert Fico in November fulfilled
promises made during his election campaign and blocked a major arms delivery
planned by his predecessor.

The West's weapons contributions have evolved along with the situation on the
battlefield, morphing from tens of thousands of light weapons after the
invasion to helicopters and howitzers, and then to sophisticated western
tanks including American Abrams, British Challengers and German Leopards.

After getting the green light from Washington, the Netherlands and Denmark
agreed in August 2023 to deliver 61 American F-16 fighter jets. Norway
followed suit and training of the pilots has started.