Germany announced on Wednesday that it will purchase $500 million worth of US weapons for Ukraine under a new NATO scheme to funnel more US military equipment into the proxy war, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that he “commended” Germany for committing to purchase the US weapons. “Germany is the largest European contributor of military aid to Ukraine, and today’s announcement further underlines its commitment to help the Ukrainian people defend their freedom and sovereignty,” he said.
Germany’s announcement came after the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden committed to purchasing US weapons for Ukraine. The commitment from the five NATO countries amounts to about $1.5 billion in US military equipment that will be sent to Ukraine.
It’s unclear exactly what kind of weapons the European countries are going to purchase, but it will likely include air defense missiles and other types of munitions. President Trump and Rutte first announced the plan to have NATO countries purchase US arms for Ukraine at a White House meeting last month.
Vice President JD Vance recently said that the US was “done” with funding the war in Ukraine, though he said if the “Europeans want to step up and actually buy the weapons from American producers, we’re okay with that, but we’re not going to fund it ourselves anymore.”
The announcement from Germany comes ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for this Friday. The two leaders are expected to discuss the terms for a potential peace deal.
