The United States and NATO are working on a new approach to provide weapons to Ukraine, using funds from NATO countries to pay for the purchase or transfer of American arms.
The renewal of transatlantic cooperation regarding Ukraine comes as American President Donald Trump has expressed frustration over Moscow’s ongoing attacks on its neighbor.
The President stated last month that the U.S. would provide weapons to Ukraine, paid for by European allies, but did not indicate how this would be done.
- Ukraine to receive sophisticated weapons through a US-NATO agreement
- France and Italy refuse to participate in the new NATO plan to fund American weapons for Ukraine
NATO countries, Ukraine, and the United States are developing a new mechanism that will focus on providing American arms to Kiev from Ukraine's Priority Urgent Request List, known by the acronym PURL, three sources familiar with the matter reported to Reuters.
Ukraine will prioritize the arms it needs in tranches of $500 million, and NATO allies - coordinated by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte - will then negotiate among themselves who will donate or pay for the items on the list.
With this approach, NATO allies hope to provide weapons worth $10 billion to Ukraine, stated a European official, speaking on condition of anonymity. It is not clear within what timeframe they hope to provide the weapons.
"This is the starting point and is an ambitious goal we are aiming for. Currently, we are on this trajectory. We support this ambition. We need such a volume," the European official declared.
NATO declined to comment. The White House, the Pentagon, and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comments.
These efforts are taking place as Russian forces gradually advance in Ukraine and already control a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Faster Arms Replenishment
If a NATO country decides to donate weapons to Ukraine, the mechanism will effectively allow that country to bypass the lengthy U.S. arms sales procedures to replenish its own stocks, an American official stated, speaking on condition of anonymity.
However, the NATO country will need to pay the United States in advance for the faster replenishment. The money will be deposited into an account held by the U.S., possibly at the U.S. Treasury Department, or into a guarantee fund, although the exact structure remains unclear, the official stated.
NATO countries also have the option to simply pay the United States to send weapons directly to Ukraine. In this case, the payment could be made through NATO or directly to the U.S. Department of Defense, stated a second source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This would add to the United States' own efforts to identify weapons from American stocks to send to Ukraine under the Presidential Authority for Excess Defense Articles, which allows the U.S. President to use current weapon stocks to assist allies in emergencies.
At least one tranche of weapons for Ukraine is currently being negotiated under the new mechanism, two sources stated, although it is not clear if the money has already been transferred.
Republican colleagues of Trump in Congress have introduced a bill, known as the PEACE Act, aiming to create a fund at the U.S. Treasury where allies can deposit money to replenish the supply of American military equipment donated to Ukraine.