NATO allies to pledge €140 billion in Ukraine military aid as Germany shoulders largest share
The 32 NATO member states have agreed on a draft declaration to provide €140 billion in military assistance to Ukraine over 2026–2027, replacing the US financial contribution and committing to a minimum of €70 billion annually, with Germany set to bear the largest single national share.
The alliance will formalise the pledge at a summit in Ankara on Tuesday. European allies and Canada are stepping in to fill the gap left by the United States, which stopped funding Ukraine aid under President Donald Trump.
The road to Ankara
The text was finalised in Brussels after months of negotiations. Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had first pushed the multi-year concept at a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Sweden in May. The initiative gained momentum when Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed it directly with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the E-5 summit in Berlin last week. Italy had been the last holdout, resisting a binding commitment for 2027, but dropped its objections in the North Atlantic Council on Tuesday.
- German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul proposes multi-year aid commitment at NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Sweden.
- Chancellor Merz raises the initiative with Italian Prime Minister Meloni at the E-5 summit in Berlin.
- Italy drops its objections; the 32 allies finalise the draft declaration with the 140 billion euro pledge.
- NATO summit opens in Ankara; President Zelenskyy is expected to attend.
- Final summit declaration, including the aid package, is scheduled to be released.
Inside the package
The total of €140 billion combines €60 billion in EU loans already earmarked for defence spending in 2026–2027 and €80 billion in fresh bilateral pledges from European NATO members and Canada. The bilateral portion works out to roughly €40 billion per year, matching a NATO commitment made in 2024 that once included the United States.
For 2026, NATO allies commit to providing 70 billion euros for military equipment, support and training for Ukraine, and reaffirm their sovereign commitments to maintain at least a comparable level in 2027.
- EU loans
- 60 € billion
- Bilateral pledges
- 80 € billion
Germany steps up
With the US largely out, Germany is expected to carry the largest single national burden. Berlin has already budgeted €11.5 billion for artillery, drones, armoured vehicles and other hardware this year, the highest figure since the Russian invasion. Merz, speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Berlin on Wednesday, said he hoped Moscow would “draw the right conclusions” from the signal.
Overcoming Italian resistance
Italy had objected to the multi-year language and the specific mention of 2027, but Meloni softened after Merz’s personal intervention. The final text relies on voluntary national pledges rather than a GDP-based formula, a compromise that also satisfied France, which had opposed setting a fixed share of economic output. Diplomats noted that France was wary of linking the aid to the American-led Purl initiative, under which allies buy US-made weapons for Ukraine, a mechanism Washington has pushed as a way to shift costs.
Wider summit agenda
The Ankara communiqué will also stress that European allies must take greater responsibility for continental defence. “A stronger Europe in a stronger NATO” is the summit motto. Leaders plan to discuss expanding defence industrial capacity and will reiterate that Russia is a permanent threat to Euro-Atlantic security. The Iran conflict and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz are expected to get only a brief mention, despite repeated US frustration that allies are not contributing more to that campaign.
