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NATO’s two newest members, finland And swedensaid on Wednesday that they will buy more weapons from the United States to deliver ukraineForeign military aid to the war-torn country has declined sharply in recent months, the data showed.
Over the summer, NATO began coordinating regular deliveries of large arms packages to Ukraine to help deter Russia’s war. Its objective was to send at least one targeted and estimated amount of military aid per month, each worth about $500 million.
Stockpiles of excess weapons in European arsenals have nearly dried up, and NATO diplomats have said that the United States has about $10–$12 billion worth of weapons, air defense systems and ammunition that Ukraine could use.
Under the financing arrangement – known as the Priority Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL – European allies and Canada are buying US weapons to help Kiev keep Russian forces at bay. Nearly $2 billion worth has already been allocated.
Finland’s Defense Minister, Antti Hakkanen, said that his country “has decided to join PURL, because we see that it is important that Ukraine receives critical US weapons.” Finland will also provide a separate package of military equipment of its own.
Swedish Defense Minister Páll Jonsson said that “Sweden is ready to do more.” He also welcomed discussions between the other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – on sending additional cargo.
“This is important now because we are seeing the wrong trajectory when it comes to supporting Ukraine, that it is going down and we want to see more stepped up,” Jonsson told reporters at NATO headquarters, where defense ministers were meeting.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur also expressed concern about the decline in Western support, saying that “the reality is that the share of the US contribution to Ukraine has decreased significantly this year.”
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the American “hope today is that more countries donate even more, that they purchase even more to provide to Ukraine, to bring that conflict to a peaceful conclusion.”
The Trump administration has not donated military equipment to Ukraine. There is consideration of whether Tomahawk long-range missiles will be sent to Russia if Russia doesn’t end its war soon, but it’s unclear who will pay for those weapons, should they ever be approved.
Indeed, new data on Western military aid to Ukraine shows that despite the PURL program, support declined by 43% in July and August compared with the first half of the year, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute, which tracks deliveries and funding to Kiev.
NATO Secretary General mark rute Didn’t see any problem. Asked if he was concerned about a decline in support for Ukraine, he said, “Not so. When you look at this year, it’s more or less the same as last year’s average.”
Criticism has increased that France, Italy and spain Not enough is being done to help Ukraine, and Hakkanen called on all 32 NATO allies to take their “fair share of the burden”, saying that “everyone has to find the money because this is a critical moment.”
France and Italy are deep in debt and struggling to raise money to meet NATO defense spending targets. Spain says it has other economic concerns and insists it makes up its NATO spending gap by deploying troops on alliance missions.
France also believes that European money should be spent on Europe’s defense industry, not the United States, and does not intend to participate in PURL.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine