Lots of nations have donated funds to Ukraine since the war began, but which has given the most?
ADVERTISEMENTSmall countries close to Ukraine spent more supporting the war-torn country relative to their GDP in the first month of Russia's invasion than the US, the UK or the EU's biggest economies, new data suggest.
According to the Ukraine Support Tracker from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which lists and quantifies military, financial and humanitarian aid pledges to Ukraine, Washington provided Kyiv with the equivalent of €7.6 billion in the four weeks following the start of Russia's invasion on 24 February.
This is by far the largest contribution with Poland coming second with an envelope of just under €1 billion followed by the UK, Germany and France.
EU member states contributed a combined 2.9 billion, with an additional 1.4 billion coming from EU institutions and 2 billion from the European Investment Bank.
"It is remarkable that the US alone is giving significantly more than the entire EU, in whose immediate neighbourhood the war is raging," Christoph Trebesch, research director at the Kiel Institute and lead author of its Tracker, said in a statement.
Yet, the Tracker also shows that when comparing the assistance provided to the donor country's economy, the US drops from first to 6th place with tiny Estonia proving mighty.
Tallinn's contribution in the first few weeks of the war is thought to have totalled nearly 0.8% of its economic output. The small Baltic state of 1.3 million inhabitants had a GDP of about $30.65 billion in 2020 according to the World Bank.
Poland once again came in second place with its support to Ukraine equalling nearly 0.18% of its GDP with Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden completing the top five. The US's contribution meanwhile worked out at just under 0.4% of its GDP which reached $84.75 trillion in 2020.
"Geographic proximity to Ukraine seems to play a major role in the engagement of Eastern European countries," Trebesch said.
The Tracker does have limitations, its main author acknowledged, flagging for instance that it cannot "provide the full picture because military aid to Ukraine, in particular, is not always transparent."
It also does not include other types of support including the cost of helping refugees.
More than 4.9 million people have now fled Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's attack. according to the UN. Neighbouring countries have welcomed the bulk of them with Poland now hosting 2.8 million refugees while Romania, Hungary, and Moldova have a combined 1.9 million within their borders.