“The gap between military aid promised and aid delivered is wide”

• Ukraine's allies have only sent about half of the promised heavy weapons, experts say.

• A tracking group said deliveries from the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom “remain well below promises.”

• The Ukrainian counter-offensive is progressing slowly and the country is requesting additional weapons.

Only about half of the heavy weapons that Ukraine's allies promised to send have actually been delivered, according to a new report by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

The Kiel Institute, which has been tracking aid promised and sent to Ukraine, said in an update Thursday that although Western countries have made significant military aid commitments to Ukraine, “Actual deliveries were much lower than promised.”

“In general, only a little more than half of the committed heavy weapons have been delivered. This is particularly true for EU countries and the United States,” the statement said.

Christoph Trebesch, head of the team that created the tracker, said “the gap between military aid promised and aid delivered is wide.”

The Institute also reported that the scale of commitments by Ukraine's allies declined during the most recent period, from February 25 to May 31, when Ukraine prepared to launch its counteroffensive against the Russian forces.

He said the total amount of aid committed to Ukraine, which includes humanitarian and financial aid as well as military aid, was lower this spring compared to previous periods.

And although most of the new pledges were for military aid, these were “not as significant as earlier this year, and deliveries of military equipment are well below commitments.”

Ukraine has received weapons such as tanks, long-range HIMARS donated by the US, which one expert told Insider are a “perfect” weapon for Ukraine, and Storm Shadow missiles supplied by the United Kingdom which prove to be very precise in eliminating Russian targets. Ukrainian soldiers also praised the rugged Bradley IFVs donated by the United States.

The Kiel Institute said some European countries like the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland and Slovakia had outperformed others, delivering “more than 80 percent of the promised heavy weapons.”

This is to be compared with the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, whose “deliveries remain well below promises”.

Ukraine launched its counter-offensive operations in June and has so far made slow progress, although it says its main force has not yet entered the fight.

But Ukraine says it needs more weapons to be effective against Russia.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's top general, said in late June that he was “annoyed” to hear commentators say the counteroffensive is moving more slowly than expected because it cannot go faster without more weapons.

“If they are not fully stocked, these plans are not feasible at all,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN on Wednesday that earlier deliveries of Western weapons could have allowed the response to begin “much earlier.”

He also said the delay gave Russia “time and opportunity to place more mines and prepare its defensive lines.”

Experts told Insider's Chris Panella last month that NATO allies' reluctance to provide more weapons is likely hampering Ukraine's counter-offensive efforts.

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