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Since transatlantic negotiations on the future of Ukraine are amplified, the question is very important, especially in the statements of US President Donald Trump: who pays what?
The debates of billions that were spilled into military efforts to help Ukraine repel Russian attacks on the Moscow General War since February 2022, and whether the burden is right, is currently undergoing the ongoing diplomats.
EURONEWS analyzes who pays, and most importantly – how much weight is compared to each country.
Protection costs for us and GDP EU
In November last year, the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, approved the military budget in the amount of 2.23 trillion fluffy (45.9 billion euros) for 2025. Then this amount corresponded to 26.3% of GDP or 55% of GDP.
In July, this amount was revised to include an additional 412.3 billion Gryvanov (8.6 million euros) for additional support for a soldier, weapons and construction supply, which increased the total amount to 31% of GDP or 67% of the total costs of the central government.
Expenses as a budget share indicate the percentage of the same government resources that are in priority, such as protection, compared with all other costs.
While expenses as a percentage of GDP have the same amount in relation to the size of the entire economy – this includes private companies and other economic actions to show the burden of the national economy as a whole.
While the protective budget of Ukraine in the amount of 2.64 trillion puddles (55 billion euros) reflects immediate survival needs, the wider cost of war reveals a total weight of 700 billion euros, which covers reconstruction, humanitarian needs and financial losses. Defense expenses, although historically unprecedented, are only one element of the economic impact of war on the country.
For comparison, the EU’s expenses for efforts on defense of Ukraine, which include both the direct expenses of the EU and the bilateral expenses of the member states, amount to about 72 billion euros for three years 2022-2024.
From the point of view of GDP, this is about 0.3% of EU GDP per year.
According to the State Department, US expenses only for Ukrainian defense for the same three years amounted to 66.9 billion dollars. USA ($ 57.3 billion).
This is much lower than in the past 300 billion dollars, which was reported by US President Donald Trump.
From the point of view of GDP, this is about 0.08% of US GDP per year.
We collected the diagram below to visualize intense differences.
Although it is not surprising that the amount spent on the defense of Ukraine on economic forces, such as the USA and the EU, is only a small part of their annual GDP, sets the total real value of the Russian war for Ukrainians.
The cost of war in Ukraine from the point of view of burden for individual citizens
Another way to place the numbers in context is how every individual citizen pays for the costs of defense of Ukraine.
If we take the budget for the expenses of the defense of Ukraine and share it on the basis of the general assessment of its current population, about 37.86 million – the figures are unclear from the large number of refugees and internally displaced Ukrainians – then we can conclude that about 2024 euros of 1312 euros per year.
This is much higher, both absolutely and relatively than what US citizens or the EU citizens invest.
The determination of a stable fixed amount for financing sent to the United States to Ukraine since 2022, since decisions on financing and distribution do not comply with the budgets of defense or expenses in how they did it for our calculation for Ukraine.
If we get the number 130.6 billion dollars. USA (111.28 billion US dollars) – this includes both protective support and humanitarian aid data for at least three years – and we share it with the number of the US population, each US citizen paid $ 108.
For the EU, if we overestimate the assessment of the Kile Institute for General Military and Financial obligations up to 138 billion euros, then the amount for each EU citizen is about 95 euros per year.
Now, unlike the US assessment, the number of methods should not be the same for the entire bloc, because some countries make a greater contribution to the defense of Ukraine, while others do not make any exceptions from the general EU budget, such as Hungary.
In addition, some European countries outside the EU, such as Norway, contribute to Ukraine with additional means of the European peaceful mechanism. Most assessments of the EU Assistance in Kyiv do not include the funds of the European Mirny Fund.
But for reasons of the assessment, let’s assume that the weight is evenly distributed. The graph below shows a big difference from famous items.
Of course, we must say that the average annual salary of a citizen of Ukraine is about 3,500 euros, which contributes to military efforts equivalent to about one third of the average annual salary.
The above numbers look much less aggravating if we compare The average salary In the EU, which is about 29,600 euros in accordance with Eurostat, and in the USA, which is about 62,000 or 56,880 euros.
The cost of a disaster during the war
Ukraine is faced with 448.6 billion Euro needs for reconstruction in the next decade, almost ninety from the defense budget for 2025. The fourth quick assessment of the damage and needs of the World Bank, published for 250 euros, registered 150 euros.
Damage and destruction in houses are the first in all areas with 48.8 billion euros, which affects 2.5 million households and requires 71 billion euros for reconstruction. Transport infrastructures suffered losses of 31.6 billion euros and required 66.7 billion euros for full rehabilitation.
The energy sector, which was an important goal in 2024, is faced with the cost of restoring up to 58.2 billion euros.
For comparison, the United States and the EU did not see direct costs of infrastructure or damage from the battles, with the exception of cases of Russian sabotage, such as damage caused by underwater telecommunication cables in the Baltic region in December 2024.
These numbers only capture the economic side of the war. The much higher cost is in lost lives, displaced families and destroyed communities – numbers that no accounting book can fully calculate.