On October 15, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Gäkkinen announced that his country is joining the PURL program, which provides for the supply of American weapons to Ukraine at the expense of European states. He announced this before the meeting of defense ministers of NATO member states in Brussels.
“We see that Russia is now rapidly consuming its resources and becoming increasingly dependent on China and other allies. This is both a sign of a strong will, but also a sign of a weaker army and economy. Therefore, at this moment, it is extremely important that Western countries increase their support for Ukraine, as well as strengthen sanctions against the Russian economy. This is the only way to achieve peace, if we really want it,” noted the Minister of Defense of Finland.
He also announced a new aid package for Ukraine:
“This week we are providing a new package of support to Ukraine and we have also decided to join the PURL Initiative because we see that it is very important for Ukraine to get critical US weapons and they said that the Europeans should pay for the war that is happening on our continent and therefore the Europeans should also find the money for it”.
PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) is a joint initiative of the USA and NATO aimed at accelerating the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Within the framework of the program, Kyiv compiles a list of priority needs for weapons and passes it on to allies. Partners finance purchases of American weapons based on these requests. The funds go to a special NATO account, after which the United States makes direct deliveries of weapons.
Recall that on October 13, Slovenia also joined the PURL program regarding the purchase of American weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the expense of NATO allies.
