US said to plan fresh NATO push for Ukraine arms deliveries
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The PURL initiative is the cornerstone of NATO efforts to shore up Ukraine’s defence, allowing allies to pay for US weapons that are then sent to Kyiv.
PHOTO: AFP
- The US plans to ask NATO allies for more money for Ukraine’s PURL weapons scheme, which lets allies pay for US arms sent to Kyiv.
- A funding gap of about US$2 billion remains for approved packages, while the US keeps sending weapons before allies pay.
- The move shows support for Ukraine continues despite Trump-Zelensky tension, though it has confused allies and made new funding harder to secure.
AI generated
WASHINGTON – The US is planning to ask NATO allies to contribute more money to a key weapons-delivery programme for Ukraine, sources familiar with the matter said, a sign that US defence support for Kyiv continues despite lingering tension between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The request could come as soon as November for more funding to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
They said the US has already signalled to some allies that it will ask for the money.
It was not immediately clear how much money the US is seeking but the people said there is a funding gap of about US$2 billion (S$2.56 billion) for weapons packages that have already been approved.
They said the US has continued delivering weapons even before allies have provided the money to pay for them, and the shortfall could grow if the Pentagon decided to make more deliveries.
The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The PURL initiative is the cornerstone of NATO efforts to shore up Ukraine’s defence, allowing allies to pay for US weapons that are then sent to Kyiv.
Previous shipments have included crucial air defence items and other military equipment.
The new funding push suggests the Pentagon has not allowed the heated rhetoric between Washington and Kyiv to interfere with the crucial role American defence firms play in providing Ukraine with weapons.
The US has even kept weapons flowing to Ukraine when allied funding has lagged behind the pace of US deliveries, the people said.
That criticism has included Trump and SpaceX chief Elon Musk both calling on Zelensky to step down.
Zelensky accused the US of slowing SpaceX’s vital Starlink satellite internet service speed for his military and delaying previous PURL shipments of Patriot air defence interceptors, while Ukrainian officials have also accused the US of occasionally halting intelligence-sharing – which the US has denied.
The disconnect between the defence assistance and Trump’s comments has created confusion among US allies, and at times made it more difficult to persuade allies to pay for new weapons, particularly as Europeans grow wary of funding a war that has dragged into its fifth year, some of the people said.
Several key European nations – including Spain, France and Italy – are also holding elections in 2026 or next.
In October, the US threatened to halt PURL deliveries in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, according to people familiar.
The threat was not carried out and the programme continued operating, the people said.
Separate from the PURL initiative, the US State Department on Oct 30 approved a US$2.1 billion (S$2.69 billion) foreign military sale of Patriot missiles to Kyiv, paid for by donations from Canada, Germany, Norway, and the European Union.
Such foreign military sales generally take years to go from approval to weapons deliveries. BLOOMBERG