Europe, Virtually Zero New Support for Ukraine in July

On May 1st (local time), a Russian soldier was standing guard inside the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian forces.

An analysis revealed that new support from major European countries for Ukraine was virtually zero in July.

The British daily The Telegraph reported this on the 18th (local time), citing data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) in Germany, which tracks government support for Ukraine.

According to the 'Ukraine Support Tracker' released by the institute on that day, there was no contribution from six major European countries? the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, France, Italy, and Spain? in new aid commitments to Ukraine last month.

IfW's 'Ukraine Support Tracker' monitors military, financial, and humanitarian aid from major G7 countries, the EU, as well as South Korea, T?rkiye, Norway, New Zealand, and Australia to Ukraine. The total aid tracked from January 24 to the 3rd of this month amounted to approximately 84.2 billion euros (about 112.55 trillion won).

The United Kingdom has provided the most support to Ukraine after the United States, the largest aid donor, since the early stages of the conflict.

New aid commitments to Ukraine last month were about 1.5 billion euros (approximately 2.03 trillion won), of which 1 billion euros came from Norway, a Northern European country not part of the European Union.

This is considered a negative trend from Ukraine's perspective, as the war has continued for nearly half a year and the Ukrainian forces are in a stalemate with the Russian military.

Christoph Trebesch, a researcher at IfW, said, "Although the war is entering a critical phase, new support plans (for Ukraine) have dried up," adding, "Both financial and military support have not reached the levels Ukraine needs."

However, the institute assessed that the gap between promised aid and actual delivered aid to Ukraine has narrowed.

Researcher Trebesch said, "In July, donor countries hardly initiated new support, but some of the previously promised aid, such as weapons, was delivered (to Ukraine)."

This month, Western defense ministers discussed continued military support for Ukraine and announced new aid plans.

On the 11th, 26 countries agreed to provide an additional 1.5 billion euros worth of military aid to Ukraine at the 'Northern European Defense Alliance Conference for Ukraine' held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Andriy Yermak, Chief of Staff to the President of Ukraine, emphasized in a contribution to the American magazine Newsweek that "Western support is a matter of life and death for us."