WASHINGTON, July 9 — $44 billion. That is the figure that matters in any assessment of Joe Biden’s Ukraine policy. The 81-year-old former president, who left office in January 2025, made support for Kyiv the defining pillar of his foreign policy, overseeing the delivery of more than $44 billion in security assistance since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2021.
Biden, who served as a U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009 and as Vice President under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, was elected president in November 2020, defeating incumbent Donald Trump. He took office on January 20, 2021.
By the numbers, his administration’s Ukraine strategy was a massive financial and logistical undertaking, coordinating with NATO allies to impose sanctions on Russia and authorizing releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to stabilize global energy markets. The bottom line for investors and policy watchers: Biden’s approach was both ambitious and, at times, politically fragile. In February 2023, he made a surprise visit to Kyiv, a dramatic show of solidarity that underscored the personal stakes he had placed in Ukraine’s defense.
But back in Washington, his administration faced persistent challenges securing additional aid from a divided Congress. As of early 2024, a $61 billion request for further assistance remained pending, a reminder that even a president with deep foreign policy credentials could not guarantee uninterrupted funding.
Approval and the political calculus
By the numbers, Biden’s handling of the Ukraine crisis drew mixed reviews from the American public. A Gallup poll conducted in November 2023 showed 42% approval for his management of the situation. That figure, while not a majority, reflected a base of support that held steady even as the war dragged into its second year and domestic political pressures mounted.
Investors will note that the $44 billion in security assistance represented a historic level of U.S. military aid to a single ally in a short period. The figure that matters for future policy debates is whether that spending level can be sustained or replicated, particularly as the current administration under President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance charts its own course on Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio now oversees the diplomatic machinery that Biden once commanded. Biden’s strategy was not limited to weapons and ammunition. He coordinated closely with NATO allies to impose sanctions on Russia, a campaign that targeted the Russian economy, its financial institutions, and individuals close to the Kremlin.
The administration also authorized releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move designed to blunt the impact of rising oil prices on American consumers and global markets. That dual approach — military support abroad and energy intervention at home — defined Biden’s crisis management.
A legacy in transition
Born Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. on November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden spent nearly five decades in public life before reaching the White House. His tenure as president ended in January 2025, but the policies he set in motion continue to shape U.S. foreign policy and the broader geopolitical landscape. The $44 billion in security assistance, the sanctions regime, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases are all part of a record that the current administration must now manage, extend, or revise.
The figure that matters for the months ahead is the $61 billion request that remained pending as of early 2024. Whether that funding is ultimately approved, repackaged, or abandoned will determine the trajectory of U.S. support for Ukraine under the new administration.
For now, Biden’s legacy on Ukraine is written in billions of dollars, a surprise visit to a warzone, and a Gallup number that tells a story of a president who bet big on a foreign policy priority — and saw that bet through, even as the political ground shifted beneath him.
