Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US has been the country providing the largest amount of assistance to Ukraine in cash terms. However, it’s not clear what the figures of $300 billion or $350 billion are based on, and these figures have been widely questioned.
In remarks and social media posts, the president echoed Russian talking points. [...]
Here’s an assessment of Trump’s misleading statements on Ukraine in recent days.
In his remarks, Zelensky went on to say that he knew a large part of U.S. aid came not in direct funds but in the forms of weapons, training, humanitarian programs and in other areas. He said: “I don’t know where all this money is.”
Trump appeared to take the comment as an admission that the money was lost. But while Zelensky said he did not know exactly how it was spent, his understanding appeared to comport with U.S. accounting that shows a large share went to activities carried out to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including within the United States.
On February 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said he had only received $75 billion of the $175 billion the United States had spent on Ukraine. The cry went up, what happened to the other $100 billion? Was it lost or stolen? The answer is no. Only part of the aid goes through Ukrainian control. A large part pays for activities as a result of the war but not to Ukraine directly. These include the United States training of Ukrainian forces, global humanitarian assistance, additional costs of U.S. surge forces in Europe, and intelligence support for both NATO and Ukraine.
As CSIS has reported before, "aid to Ukraine" is a misnomer because 90 percent of military aid is spent in the United States. Of aid overall, 60 percent is spent in the United States, about 25 percent is spent in Ukraine, and the final 15 percent is spent globally.
On February 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said he had only received $75 billion of the $175 billion the United States had spent on Ukraine. The cry went up, what happened to the other $100 billion? Was it lost or stolen? The answer is no. Only part of the aid goes through Ukrainian control. A large part pays for activities as a result of the war but not to Ukraine directly. These include the United States training of Ukrainian forces, global humanitarian assistance, additional costs of U.S. surge forces in Europe, and intelligence support for both NATO and Ukraine.
As CSIS has reported before, "aid to Ukraine" is a misnomer because 90 percent of military aid is spent in the United States. Of aid overall, 60 percent is spent in the United States, about 25 percent is spent in Ukraine, and the final 15 percent is spent globally.
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' International Security Program:
"Measured by percentage of GDP, the United States at .3% is behind most European countries, with 30 others ahead of the United States. Measured as a percentage of the defense budget, military aid to Ukraine (excluding humanitarian assistance, economic support, and money going to other US agencies) comes to about 3.5% of the defense budget over the two fiscal years of the war. This may be the 3.5% that Haley referred to. I don't have comparisons to other countries. The number needs to be handle cautiously, however, because all the Ukraine aid was added to the budget and did not come out of DoD base budget."
"Bottom line: measured by dollars, the United States is far ahead of other countries. Measured by level of effort, percentage of GDP, many countries exceed the US effort," Cancian added.
The odds of a shutdown increase the longer Congress goes without reaching a spending agreement. With cuts looming, people asked if aid to Ukraine would halt, too.
ANSWER: Yes, American assistance to Ukraine is among the military programs exempt from the impact of a government shutdown.
No, the U.S. government did not accidentally send an extra $6 billion to Ukraine.
This viral claim takes what actually happened completely out of context. The U.S. actually sent about $6 billion less than it intended in military equipment to Ukraine â not $6 billion more.
That happened because the Pentagon overestimated the value of military equipment sent to the country, meaning it was worth about $6 billion less than originally estimated.
The above photograph does not show Zelenskyy's home. Using Google's reverse-image search tool, we found the same photograph on a number of real estate websites showing luxury properties in France and Monaco.
Given that the author of the original tweet pulled the photo from real estate profiles of a house in France, without providing any evidence of its ownership, we rate this photograph as "Miscaptioned."
The former president continued to criticize fellow NATO members' spending, but he overstated how much more the U.S. has spent to fund Ukraine's defense.