Ukraine seeks 1 billion euros more to buy US weapons by year-end

[KYIV] Ukraine is seeking some 1 billion euros (S$1.5 billion) in additional European funding by the end of the year to finance US weapons purchases, the country’s ambassador to Nato said. 

“We would be extremely grateful for the new contributions from allies so Ukraine will be able to receive equipment through PURL uninterruptedly,” Alyona Getmanchuk told Bloomberg News, referring to a programme that finances US sweapon purchases with money provided mainly by Kyiv’s European partners. 

The war-battered nation aims to fend off intensified Russian airstrikes and grinding advances by the Kremlin’s forces as winter sets in.

The Netherlands will allocate an additional 250 million euros to buy US equipment, including air defence systems and F-16 fighter jets, Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Monday (Dec 1) ahead of a meeting with his European counterparts in Brussels. 

Still, many European allies have been slow to commit to the Nato-led initiative after the US administration of President Donald Trump halted financial aid to Ukraine. This reluctance has only grown after Europe was blindsided by Washington’s latest peace efforts, including an initial 28-point plan that appeared to favour Russia. 

The proposal was revised to make it more palatable to Kyiv in talks between Ukraine and US negotiators in Geneva last week. The two sides met again on Sunday in Florida for discussions, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as productive, although there was no final breakthrough. US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who hosted the meeting, is travelling for talks to Russia this week.  

The ongoing peace negotiations “shouldn’t be perceived as a signal to drop support to Ukraine and pressure on Russia – on the contrary,” Getmanchuk said. 

To support Kyiv, Europe should “agree on the reparations loan immediately” she said. European Union members have yet to reach an agreement to tap frozen Russian central bank assets to help finance Ukraine, a decision that’s likely to come to a head during a leaders summit in Brussels on Dec 18. 

“Europeans can do much more than draft their own plan,” she said. 

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Getmanchuk described the PURL programme as very effective. It provided 75 per cent of financing for Patriot air defence systems and 90 per cent of all other air defence systems since it started this summer, she said. Other equipment includes extended-range artillery shells that allow Ukraine to reach across the drone kill-zone on the battlefield, she said. BLOOMBERG