Although the US plans to split Ukraine and divide the former Soviet Republic into two occupation zones, Europe has decided to provide Kiev with military aid worth USD 24 billion in order to prevent Russian aggression. During a recent conference of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG, also known as the Ramstein Group), representatives of the European countries agreed to send weapons and defence equipment to Kiev.

The UDCG is an alliance of 57 countries, including all 32 member-states of NATO and 25 other countries, which supports the defence of Ukraine by sending military equipment in response to the 2022 Russian invasion. Britain recently took over the leadership of the UDCG after the US left the alliance. British Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed the news, stressing that the UDCG member-countries decided to provide military assistance of EUR 21 billion (USD 24 billion) to Ukraine, and Britain would send military assistance worth EUR 4.5 billion to Kiev in 2025. For his part, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (who also attended the UDCG conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 11, 2025) stated that Berlin’s pledge of EUR 11 billion until 2029 was a record boost in military funding for Ukraine.

Speaking at the event, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that much of the support generated by donors would be delivered to Kiev through the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) command in Wiesbaden. He also showered praises on European allies for stepping up their military aid to the war-ravaged country in 2025, apart from encouraging nations to continue their contributions mainly through NATO’s Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine. He further underlined the importance of sustained support to Kiev as efforts to negotiate a just and lasting peace continue.

Most of the Western European countries have consistently provided military assistance to Ukraine for preventing Russian aggression for the past three years. The White House announced that it would stop sending military aid to Kiev soon after the verbal spat between US President Donald John Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy at the Oval Office on February 28, 2025. As the Trump-Zelenskyy talks collapsed, Europe became active in accelerating its assistance to Ukraine.

The 27 member-states of the European Union (EU) issued a joint declaration on Ukraine after holding a meeting in early March (2025), stating that the continent would “jointly borrow up to EUR 150 billion (USD 160 billion) to lend to EU governments to spend on their militaries“. Later, Chairperson of the meeting Antonio Costa told the press: “Today we have shown that the European Union is rising to the challenge, building the Europe of defence and standing with Ukraine shoulder to shoulder.” He stated: “We are here to defend Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: “Europe must take up this challenge, this arms race. And it must win it. Europe as a whole is truly capable of winning any military, financial and economic confrontation with Russia… We are simply stronger.” The EU leaders also made it clear that there would be no negotiations on Ukraine in the absence of Ukrainian officials, vowing to continue to provide Kiev with aid.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das