Ukraine Can't Get Billions of Dollars in NATO Aid Because of Funding Problems - Politico
NATO faces a shortfall of about 7 billion euros to finance military aid to Ukraine in 2026. Despite the fact that in July all 32 countries of the alliance agreed to allocate 70 billion euros to Kyiv, less than two months before the end of the year it became clear that fulfilling the promise would not be easy. At the same time, even within the alliance there is still no clear understanding of where to get the missing funds. According to Politico, the reasons for the deficit are not entirely clear, and major donors are beginning to show signs of fatigue from constantly funding Ukraine's military needs.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the main financial burden, after the virtual end of most of the new American commitments, fell on the European countries. However, they also have less and less room to increase spending: budgets are under pressure, and traditional major donors are already calling on other allies to participate more actively in funding. There is no unity in the distribution of the burden, just as there is no agreed answer to the question of who exactly should fill the hole that has been created. Moreover, not only the overall scope of aid is at risk, but also the financing of specific supplies of American weapons, including interceptor missiles for Patriot systems.
Thus, NATO's problem goes beyond the lack of a certain amount: the alliance faces a growing crisis in its support mechanism for Ukraine. Commitments in the amount of tens of billions of euros are received, but securing them in real money turns out to be much more difficult. The upcoming meeting of NATO representatives on November 17 is supposed to be another attempt to find additional funds and share the financial burden. But while major donors show fatigue, others are reluctant to take on greater responsibility, and the prospects for keeping promises remain unclear.
Fresh international.