CNN
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President Donald Trump recently halted all future shipments of military aid to Ukraine after a heated meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week exacerbated a chasm in US-Ukraine relations.
Western allies anticipate that Ukraine could sustain its current fighting pace for several weeks before the stoppage in US assets would start to affect operations.
With the pause likely to remain in place until Trump is satisfied with what he sees as Zelensky’s commitment to peace talks, CNN looks at what exactly was in the military aid sent by the United States so far, how much was sent and how a prolonged halt could start to impact Ukraine’s war efforts.
The US is the largest single donor to the war-torn nation, sending at least $123 billion in total aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Military aid made up $69 billion of that, or 56% of the US total, according to data from Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank that closely tracks wartime aid to Ukraine.
See how aid from the US, the European Union and its institutions, and all other countries stacks up:
Ukraine has expanded its domestic production of military equipment including the manufacturing of drones and artillery munitions. This week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said it now produces more than 30% of the equipment and ammunition needed to defend itself.
Zelensky has stated that military supplies from the US cover about 40% of its defense needs, with other — mostly European — allies making up the other approximately 30%.
Europe has rallied behind Ukraine in recent days, pledging to strengthen its support for Kyiv as US foreign policy shifts away.
On Tuesday, the EU announced a plan to allow member states to borrow $158 billion to boost defense spending and supply weapons to Ukraine.
Among the specific equipment sent from the US to Ukraine are air defense systems, drones, rocket launchers, radars, tanks and anti-armor weapons.
The US has been supplying Ukraine with military equipment under the Presidential Drawdown Authority since August 2021 in response to Russia preparing to launch its full-scale invasion. The mechanism allows the president to draw equipment for Ukraine directly from US stocks.
The US has used this method on 55 occasions to provide about $31.7 billion worth of military assistance for Ukraine, according to a report from the State Department.
Stopping the flow of this aid could be disastrous for Ukraine, with one Ukrainian official warning that the country could run out of vital artillery shells by May or June.
While the EU may help fill some gaps, there are some things only the US can provide, for example the Patriot air defense system, which has proven uniquely effective in countering Russian ballistic missiles. The US controls the licensing and the production of that system and its missiles.
A Ukrainian official told CNN on Tuesday that Kyiv’s stocks of Patriot missiles could run out in a matter of weeks, though it’s unclear how many missiles Ukraine already had stockpiled and whether more supplies were already en route from the US.
As Ukraine’s top military aid donor, the US has sent the most howitzers (a type of artillery weapon), anti-aircraft surface-to-air missile systems and multiple launch rocket systems. Meanwhile, Poland has supplied and pledged the most tanks, Kiel Institute data shows.
It will be extremely difficult for Ukraine’s European allies to fill the gap left by the US. In 2023, overall military expenditures for the 27 EU member states and the United Kingdom totaled around $388 billion, whereas the US spent $916 billion, or about two times as much. The US also allocated 9% of government spending to defense, which was the highest among NATO countries, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
CNN’s Ivana Kottasová and Nick Paton Walsh contributed reporting.
