The outgoing president of the United States, Joe Biden, has surprised with the announcement of extraordinary aid for Ukraine valued at 5.9 billion dollars (5.6 billion euros). This new package of economic and military assistance will replace American material and inject liquidity into kyiv’s battered accounts due to almost three years of war. The new plan comes less than three weeks before Donald Trump takes office as president. The Republican has promised to turn off the tap on Ukraine and end the war as soon as he takes command of the leading power.
It is common for outgoing presidents to take advantage of the last months of their mandate to close gaps and approve decrees left and right; above all, on discordant issues with his successors. Trump and Biden have been characterized by having opposing opinions on the Ukraine war. While the nicknamed “Old Fox of Delaware” has maintained strong support from the United States under his mandate, the New York tycoon has announced that he will end the conflict as soon as he takes office.
The announced assistance package to Ukraine is added to the different amounts that the United States has transferred since February 2022, when the Russian invasion began. In total, Washington has contributed more than 60 billion dollars (57.7 billion euros), according to Bloomberg estimates. The United States is the second largest donor after Europe, which together has transferred more than 130,000 million euros.
Both American and European aid have focused on three areas: military assistance, financial support, and humanitarian aid. The latest package announced by the White House involves almost 2.5 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros) in direct military assistance and 3.4 billion (3.2 billion euros) in transfers from the US Treasury Department. The Pentagon has announced that Biden may extend a final check for 4.3 billion dollars (4.1 billion euros).
Trump, the peacemaker
Biden’s announcement of a final aid package is not surprising given the intentions of the new occupant of the White House. Trump said during the election campaign that he would end the war in Ukraine as soon as he came to power. As the Republican usually does, he did not specify how he plans to do it. kyiv fears that Washington will threaten to abruptly withdraw aid and force an armistice with Russia at the risk of losing the occupied territories.
This scenario would be positive for Moscow, since it would put an end to a conflict that is causing great losses in human lives and its economy, although the opacity of the regime prevents us from knowing precisely the extent of the war in Russian society. The ruble has been below 100 per dollar for weeks and inflation remains at skyrocketing levels due to war efforts and the lack of labor.
Ukraine also needs decisive efforts to end the war. Before the invasion, the country had a population of more than 43 million inhabitants (somewhat smaller than that of Spain). However, with the conflict, up to 10 million Ukrainians fled the country. The Government led by Zelensky wants them to return to the country, but without a solution in sight a return is unlikely. Of the Ukrainians who stayed and are still fighting on the front, more and more voices are calling for an end to the conflict and beginning the reconstruction of the country, estimated by the World Bank at more than 450 billion euros.
The European Union also wants an end to the war, although its position is more serious than that of the United States. The countries bordering Russia fear an invasion in the following years if it emerges stronger from the Ukrainian war while the great powers, led by Germany and Italy, want to settle the conflict as soon as possible. These two countries are among the hardest hit by the end of cheap gas from Russia. Although Rome managed to save the situation by looking for other suppliers, Berlin has been facing economic and industrial stagnation for three years with no signs of ending.
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