NATO member Denmark is handing Ukraine a billion-dollar boost one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, D.C., in a fruitless attempt to secure additional U.S. aid.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced on Wednesday that her government would be pledging 7.5 billion Danish kroner, equivalent to around $1.1 billion U.S., to help Ukraine in its continuing war invading Russian forces.
The Danish aid package includes tanks, drones, ammunition and other military equipment and supplies. The announcement came as Frederkisen and other Nordic leaders met with Zelensky in Oslo, Norway, for the second annual Ukraine–Northern Europe Summit.
"We are at a critical point in the war, and we must ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue the fight," Frederiksen said during a joint press conference at the summit, according to The Kyiv Independent. "That is why we work together with partners and allies for long-term security for Ukraine."
Newsweek reached out to for comment to the U.S. State Department via email on Wednesday.
Denmark has provided Ukraine with around $3 billion in military aid since Russia launched its invasion on February 22, 2022. The Danish government previously announced a $520 million aid package in late October.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store also announced during the summit that his country was helping Kyiv by "increasing our financial and humanitarian support by about $800 million for this year." The aid is part of a five-year, $6.8 billion aid package that was approved in February.
While aid from the Nordic countries is substantial, it pales in comparison to the $60 billion in new Ukraine aid that has been proposed as part of a $110 billion funding bill requested by President Joe Biden.
Republicans have been blocking the bill's passage through Congress while demanding increased funding for unrelated U.S.-Mexico border security measures.
On Tuesday, Zelensky traveled to the U.S. and met with leaders of both major parties in an attempt to shore up support for the aid. Republican Senator John Cornyn told CNN that Zelensky may not have "moved the needle at all" following an in-person meeting.
The State Department did announce the release of a much smaller $200 million aid package using previously approved funds on Tuesday while noting that it "will be one of the last security assistance packages we will be able to provide Ukraine" if Congress does not approve new funding.
Biden also signaled that there may be a limit to U.S. aid, saying during a joint press conference with Zelensky that the government would "continue to supply Ukraine with critical weapons and equipment as long as we can" but was "rapidly coming to an end of our ability to help Ukraine" due to the gridlock in Congress.
The U.S. is already the world's largest single contributor of military aid to Ukraine, having committed around $47 billion in assistance to Kyiv since the war began.
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