Trump may actually be (drum roll) right about one thing in Ukraine
Zelensky told Trump that ‘the EU should be our biggest partner but technically the US is a much bigger one’
US President Donald Trump complained on his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July that the US was providing more assistance to Ukraine than Europe. That’s not quite true — and yet Zelensky didn’t contradict Trump, even when the US president said, “Germany does almost nothing for you — all they do is talk.” He had good reasons for that, beyond simply trying to be nice to a powerful conversation partner who is known to like flattery.
A linear comparison of the US and European support efforts for Ukraine is impossible because of the chaotic way in which US and EU sources release data on it. But the available sources do provide some insights. According to the US Agency for International Development, all departments of the US federal government have provided about $2.1bn in direct financial assistance to Ukraine in fiscal years 2014 through to 2019 — that is, since Ukrainian resident Viktor Yanukovych was deposed. (The agency, however, doesn’t have complete...
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