NATO mission explains how much US air defense Ukraine gets with European money
Head of Ukraine Mission to NATO Alyona Getmanchuk (photo: facebook.com)
About 75% of missiles for Patriot systems are delivered to Ukraine through the PURL program. For other air defense systems, this share is even higher, with nearly 90% of interceptor missiles supplied via the same mechanism, Head of Ukraine Mission to NATO Alyona Getmanchuk said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
According to her, the Ukrainian side had to make significant diplomatic efforts to convince certain European countries to purchase US-made weapons specifically for Ukraine's needs.
"I admit that we have already spent a lot of effort in dialogue with some countries to argue why they should purchase American weapons for Ukraine. We have developed many arguments explaining that the same air defense systems, especially interceptor missiles, are mainly provided through the PURL program," a diplomat explained.
She stressed that there are no alternative ways to obtain some of these weapons, as about 75% of Patriot missiles and about 90% of interceptor missiles for other systems are supplied to Ukraine specifically via PURL.
PURL program for Ukraine
PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) is an initiative of the United States and NATO that enables Ukraine to receive critically needed weapons by financing targeted US-made deliveries.
Partner countries contribute funds to a joint pool in line with the priority needs list agreed by Ukraine with the United States and NATO.
This enables coordination of contributions, speeds up procurement, and delivers frontline items that cannot be replaced by European alternatives more quickly.
Funds have already been allocated to the program, including Denmark (about 580 million Danish kroner), Sweden (275 million dollars), Norway (135 million dollars), the Netherlands (500 million euros), and Germany.
As President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported in late December, 24 countries have already joined the PURL initiative for purchasing US weapons.
Recently, it also became known that Albania has officially confirmed its readiness to take an active part in international assistance programs and to fulfill its commitments to Kyiv.
