President Trump’s War Department has approved the first weapons packages that will be sent to Ukraine under a new NATO initiative that involves US allies funding the shipment of US weapons into the proxy war, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
So far, NATO allies have pledged about $2 billion to the initiative, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). Sources told Reuters that Elbridge Colby, the War Department’s policy chief, has approved as many as two $500 million weapons shipments for Ukraine under PURL.
The sources did not detail the types of weapons that will be sent to Ukraine under the PURL initiative, besides saying that it will include air defenses. The report said the weapons will be sent to Ukraine from US military stockpiles.
The Trump administration has continued to ship weapons packages to Ukraine that were previously approved by the Biden administration and has approved several weapons sales for Ukraine, including one that’s partially funded by US military aid and will arm Ukrainian forces with long-range cruise missiles.
News of the approval of the PURL shipments comes as a peace deal to end the Ukraine war seems increasingly unlikely despite the recent summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the two sides remain very far apart on the terms.
President Trump and his top officials also seem willing to continue supporting the war as long as the US’s NATO allies commit to more funding. Vice President JD Vance recently said that the US was “done” with funding the conflict, but 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.”
