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NATO is facing a €7 billion shortfall in its €70 billion military aid pledge to Ukraine for 2026, POLITICO reported on November 6, citing three NATO diplomats, raising concerns about Kyiv's ability to defend itself against Russian air attacks this winter as Washington has largely halted new aid and European allies struggle to make up the difference.
The pledge was made at the alliance's summit in Ankara on July 8, when NATO's 32 members committed €70 billion in military equipment, assistance and training for Ukraine this year, and at least the equivalent in 2027. But much of the total was not new money: about €30 billion of it is part of a European Union loan already agreed for Ukrainian defence spending, and the remaining €40 billion is to be met through bilateral support from allies, largely reflecting pledges first made at NATO's 2024 summit in Washington, according to Reuters.
The shortfall comes as the United States, long Ukraine's biggest military backer, has halted direct funding since President Donald Trump returned to office and is not taking part in the new pledge, leaving 31 of the 32 allies to carry it. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has said Washington had already contributed more to Ukraine than any other ally.
The largest European contributors, according to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, are Germany, which has earmarked €11.5 billion for Ukraine in its 2026 budget, the United Kingdom, at roughly €4.4 billion, and Norway, which has committed €7.6 billion, about 80 percent of it for weapons procurement. Slovakia has declined to take part in the new €70 billion initiative.
European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said last month there was a gap between what a number of NATO member states have pledged in military support for Ukraine and what has actually been delivered, and that narrowing it would go a substantial way towards addressing Kyiv's military financing needs. The United States is also preparing to ask NATO allies for more money for the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, the programme through which allies pay for American weapons sent to Kyiv, after a funding shortfall of about $2 billion opened up in it, Bloomberg reported on November 2.
NATO members are expected to discuss additional support on November 17, when the Ukraine Defence Contact Group — the Ramstein format — meets at NATO headquarters in Brussels, convened by the United Kingdom and Germany. Ukraine has said it urgently needs air defence, particularly the means to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles, ahead of the winter.