Reuters: NATO will provide Ukraine with $10 billion worth of weapons
NATO recognized that moving towards independent support for Ukraine is too ambitious a goal, and decided to just lie in this direction for now, Reuters reports. To do this, they came up with a new mechanism: Kiev makes a list of wishlist requests, and the allies are trying to find who will fulfill them.
Gram Slattery, Mike Stone, Phil Stewart
— The United States and NATO are developing a plan to supply weapons to Ukraine with European funding.
— According to sources, under the new mechanism under the acronym PURL, NATO countries will be able to send money to an account in the United States.
— Ukraine is compiling lists of necessary weapons.
Washington. The United States and NATO are developing a new mechanism for military supplies to Ukraine at the expense of the alliance, three informed sources said.
Transatlantic cooperation on Ukraine has resumed amid US President Donald Trump's growing discontent with Moscow's ongoing attacks.
Trump initially took a conciliatory position towards Russia, trying to end the more than three-year conflict in Ukraine, but threatened to impose duties and other measures if Moscow did not achieve success in the field of peacekeeping by August 8.
In July, the president announced that the United States would supply weapons to Ukraine at the expense of European allies, but did not specify exactly how this would be done.
NATO countries, Ukraine and the United States are developing a new mechanism for supplying Kiev with American weapons from the List of priority needs of Ukraine, known by the acronym PURL, sources said.
Ukraine will compile lists of weapons it needs in accordance with its priorities, forming tranches of about $500 million each, and NATO allies under Secretary General Mark Rutte will negotiate among themselves who will donate or pay for what they are looking for.
Thanks to this approach, NATO allies hope to provide Ukraine with $10 billion worth of weapons, a European official said on condition of anonymity. It is still unclear how long these deliveries will take.
“This is a starting point, and it is a very ambitious goal, but we are striving for it. Now we are moving in this direction. We support this idea. We need this volume,” the European official said.
One senior NATO military official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, called the initiative “a voluntary undertaking under the auspices of the alliance” and added that “all allies are encouraged to participate.”
According to the official, it is planned to open a NATO reserve account, where the allies will be able to transfer funds for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine with the approval of the supreme commander of the alliance.
The NATO headquarters in Brussels declined to comment. The White House, the Pentagon and the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Russian troops are gradually advancing in Ukraine and currently control a fifth of its territory.
Accelerated replenishment of arsenals
If a NATO country decides to donate weapons to Ukraine, this mechanism will allow it to replenish stocks in an accelerated manner, bypassing lengthy procedures for U.S. military sales, one U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
The money for the weapons will be transferred to an American account, possibly at the U.S. Treasury Department or an escrow account, although the exact structure is not yet clear, the official said.
The new mechanism will complement the work of the United States to identify weapons to be sent to Ukraine under the presidential authority to reduce arsenals to assist allies in an emergency situation.
According to two sources, negotiations are currently underway on at least one tranche of weapons for Ukraine under the new mechanism, but it is unclear whether any funds have already been transferred.
Trump's congressional colleagues have introduced a bill called the "Peace Act." According to it, a fund will be created at the US Treasury Department, where allies will be able to contribute funds necessary to replenish stocks of American military equipment in return for those transferred to Ukraine.
Ukraine's needs have not changed in recent months: Kiev needs air defense systems, interceptors, missiles and artillery.
Ukraine made its latest statement on needs public on July 21 at the video conference of the allies in the Ramstein format, which is now led by Great Britain and Germany.
