US ambassador to NATO signals "substantial announcements" for Ukraine at Ankara summit

A number of announcements for Ukraine are expected during the NATO summit in Ankara on 7-8 July, including on the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) programme for the purchase of US weapons for Ukraine's Armed Forces.

As reported by a European Pravda correspondent in Brussels, Matthew Whitaker, US Permanent Representative to NATO, predicted "substantial" news for Ukraine during the Ankara summit on 7-8 July.

"The announcements, I think, of the US and the allies are going to be substantial. I think you will see everyone stepping up," Whitaker said.

Whitaker pointed out that "the United States has done more for Ukraine at this point than anybody else."

"President Trump has talked about the hundreds of billions of dollars, you know, we launched the PURL programme that I've talked about many times, and we've sold over US$6 billion of US-made exquisite systems, including Patriot air defense missiles, PAC-3, to our NATO allies who have then provided those to Ukraine," he added.

Whitaker stressed that NATO allies are "working here together to support Ukraine".

The US also expects their "European allies to bear the burden of a war on the European continent".

"But the US, as I keep saying, isn't going away. We're going to continue to do what we're doing. And we expect our allies to join us in that effort," he said.

It was reported earlier that a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the foreign minister level will take place during the NATO summit in Ankara on 7-8 July.

Alliance members are expected to commit to new weapons supply contracts worth billions of dollars and to increase arms production volumes, including for Ukraine, at the NATO summit in Ankara next month.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine will be represented at the NATO summit by a delegation that he will lead.