Finland joins initiative to purchase weapons from US for Ukraine

Finland has decided to join the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, which involves purchasing weapons in the United States for transfer to Ukraine.

Finland's Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen said that the Finnish side would work out the details of its contribution to the initiative in the coming weeks.

"Ukraine's defence critically depends on specific US military supplies. The US has stated that the financial responsibility for the war being fought in Europe is shifting to Europe. Therefore, European countries must now secure funding for these essential US weapons," Häkkänen said.

He added that Finland "will shoulder its share of the responsibility in proportion to its size".

"And we expect the same from other European nations. It is particularly in the interest of Europe and the frontline states that this support to Ukraine continues," the Finnish defence minister concluded.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte previously said that new countries would soon join PURL.

Ukraine is prioritising the issue of financing arms purchases from the United States under the PURL programme during a series of events involving NATO defence ministers in Brussels on 15 October, to which Ukrainian Minister Denys Shmyhal has also been invited.

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker announced on Tuesday 14 October that new weapons deliveries to Ukraine under the PURL initiative will be announced later this week.