NATO secretary general certain that Europe will find over US$15bn for weapons for Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is confident that Ukraine's allies will find the money needed to purchase US-made weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Asked about how it will be possible to raise the US$15.5 billion Ukraine has requested for the PURL programme, through which weapons are purchased in the United States, Rutte promised that the funding would definitely be secured.

"I am absolutely confident that the money will be there, because we all know it's crucial," he said at a press conference in Kyiv.

The secretary general acknowledged, however, that uneven contributions by different countries have a negative impact: "We have now two-thirds of allies participating in the PURL programme, and you are right, there is an issue of burden-sharing."

He described the situation – some countries helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine by purchasing American weapons while others are not – as abnormal.

"At the moment, some allies are doing a lot, a lot of allies are doing something, a few are doing nothing. But most are now involved in PURL. But we need a better burden-sharing within NATO. This is what we are working on," Rutte added.

He also highlighted individual nations that are making a significant contribution to procurement under the PURL programme, namely Canada, Norway and Germany, as well as Sweden and the Baltic states.

At present, PURL is the only channel for purchasing air defence systems, primarily interceptors for Patriot systems, from the US.

Earlier, Rutte said that 90% of missiles for Ukraine's air defence have been delivered through the PURL programme.

Disruptions to supplies are still a painful issue for Kyiv; in particular, Zelenskyy said his harsh criticism of Europe in Davos was due to problems in the supply of missiles for air defence systems.

Mark Rutte has also urged the EU to move away from the "buy European" rule when it comes to weapons for Ukraine.