Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted his European allies Thursday for what he portrayed as the continent’s slow, fragmented and inadequate response to Russia’s invasion nearly four years ago and its continued international aggression.
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy listed a litany of grievances and criticisms of Europe that he said have left Ukraine at the mercy of Russian President Vladimir Putin amid an ongoing U.S. push for a peace settlement.
They aren’t wrong though - the USSR got somewhere around $100-150B from Lend Lease. Ukraine has gotten something like $300B already.
But it’s certainly not money laundering. Wars cost a lot in the modern age. The real question is why are countries giving so much but only to keep Ukraine from losing.
It’s embarrassing for Russia that this war is now longer than their war against Germany in WWII but it’s also sort of embarrassing for Ukraine’s allies.
EDIT: I was estimating in today’s dollars, from Wikipedia - A total of $50.1 billion (equivalent to $690 billion in 2024 when accounting for inflation) worth of supplies was shipped, or 17% of the total war expenditures of the U.S.[3] In all, $31.4 billion went to the United Kingdom, $11.3 billion to the Soviet Union, $3.2 billion to France, $1.6 billion to China, and the remaining $2.6 billion to other Allies.
The USSR also got a second front. Western allies were also fighting Germany, even if they could have easily stayed out of it. The EU knows some of their members are next on the Russian menu, and still they refuse to fight for their survival.
I honestly think the EU can only win by helping Ukraine. Russia and the US see the EU as weak abd indecisive, which is why they think they can take advantage of it. If the EU shows itself to be strong and a major power in its own right, they’re likely to back off. Both Putin and Trump only respect strength and force, and Ukraine is the best opportunity for the EU to show that.
On top of that, they’ll gain a valuable ally with the most effective and creative army in the world.
There is too much to win for the EU, and nothing to lose. Just end this war by liberating Ukraine.
While I wholeheartedly agree, war is always a loss. And I think Russia is treading carefully knowing exactly what the West will allow. (And manipulating their biggest obstacle.)
You’re absolutely right. War costs everybody. That money would be better spent to improve people’s lives instead of destroying it. But when someone attacks you, not defending yourself may end up costing more. And helping (and gaining) an ally is better than losing them.
But more than that: the EU showing its strength can discourage further aggression from Russia. And maybe the US.
Your whole framing is suspect, not to mention you’re talking finances and you can’t even figure out that $150 B (EDIT: as written in the post, when I posted this I didn’t check that the nominal figure really was) in 1944 dollars is closer to $2,800 B in 2025 dollars.
$11.3 B in 1944 dollars is equal to $207 B in 2025 dollars.
It was in today’s dollars. See my edit. And I don’t think it is suspect to ask Ukraine’s allies to do more to help them actually win when Zelensky is saying it himself ad nauseam.
What does a win for Ukraine look like to you? Just wondering.
And btw, from an outsider perspective it’s funny and cringe to see the attacks on your comment. I’m afraid those commenters don’t have wherewithal to be as embarrassed as they should be, but it’s a good point, that Ukraine has gotten a lot more outside funding (about $380 bn) than the USSR did to defeat Germany in WWII (about $250 bn in today’s $). I hadn’t noticed that.
I mean at this point I’m all in on Ukraine and I’m sorry to see my comment interpreted as anything but the hope that Ukraine could get the support they are asking for.
I know peace deals are precarious and complicated, but I dream of nothing less than pre 2014 borders, the end of all Russian hostilities, and a defense pact, if not full inclusion, between Ukraine and the EU.
That would be nice, but what about the Minsk agreements? Just ignore them? Could they even be implemented at this stage?
Not really sure. Not an expert but it seems like Russia already trashed them.
Fair enough. Most people with that opinion don’t know about them, or about Ukraine in general or their civil war at all. Just going back to 2013 borders wouldn’t solve anything, especially considering the number of Ukrainians that defected to the Russian side. It would just be an even more divided country.
Edit: the commenter above (Skiluros) made up the $2.8tn figure by applying inflation to a commenter above saying that the USSR had received less money through lend-lease than Ukraine has since the invasion by Russia. This figure Is wrong because the original commenter was already discussing inflation-adjusted figures, and they refuse to correct the mistake.
According to Wikipedia’s article on lend-lease, the USSR got $11.3bn, which today would roughly be $250bn. It’s higher than what Greg said (which I assumed was taking inflation into account, hence me cheking), but still lower than what Ukraine has gotten (assuming the $300bn is correct, didn’t fact check that).
I wasn’t refusing to correct the mistake, thanks. I just hadn’t checked my replies until now. I have made the edits now to clarify.
I meant Skiluros, not you, hence me referencing the $2800bn figure they made up
Ah - respect, cheers friend.
All good, buddy! Clarified who I meant :)
I have no clue around the exact sum provided to the USSR (although I have read about the nature of the support and what it focused on). I am just pointing you can’t compare dollars in a nominal manner.
You can compare dollars in a nominal manner if you apply inflation indices, that’s what inflation is calculated for. Why did you literally make up the numbers by assuming that it wasn’t inflation-adjusted instead of saying “you can’t compare dollars”?
How do you think I got the $2800 B figure?
The whole framing is dumb.
So, you CAN compare dollars. You can just delete or edit your previous comment to eliminate the misinformation of $2800bn because you applied inflation twice on the original figure by (for some reason instead of checking it up) assuming Greg hadn’t applied it
Ah, you’re a tankie who supports russian genocidal imperialism.
No, wonder you’re being so holier than thou.
Bye!
This is such a weird response. You are really making yourself look bad here. Why can’t you just accept that you inflation adjusted a number that had already been inflation adjusted? It’s an easy mistake to make and not a big deal but instead you are coming back with this bizarre non sequitur ad hominem.
Huh? Where have I expressed support for Russian invasion of Ukraine? I’m simply correcting your made-up numbers. Anyone who corrects you is a Russian imperialist?
Also, why genocidal? Using that word lightly isn’t a good thing. It’s harmful to actual genocide victims like Gazans to call everything a genocide.
money hasn’t changed in 80 years!
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS!
Tell me you don’t understand how inflation works without telling me you don’t understand how inflation works
Tell me you don’t understand geopolitical strategy around an expansionist nuclear state works without telling me you don’t understand how geopolitical strategy around an expansionist nuclear state works
Tell me you have a reductive and naive view of history and current events without telling me you have a reductive and naive view of history and current events
Though your snippy reply maybe doesn’t deserve it, respectfully- the figures I quoted were in today’s dollars. I guess I shouldn’t have assumed people would know that though.