Tusk states Poland will not fund purchases of US weapons for Ukraine
Photo: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (Getty Images)
Poland is forced to stop making contributions to the PURL fund, which finances the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine. There are several reasons for this, states Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.
Poland will not finance PURL
According to Tusk, he informed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about the suspension of funding from Poland.
"At this stage, we will not allocate additional funds to this PURL project, that is, European money for the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine. Since we spend a lot on our own armaments, we have helped and continue to help Ukraine on a truly massive scale," he said.
Tusk noted that Poland has a high budget deficit and significant defense expenditures.
"Therefore, I informed them that from a financial perspective, Poland will definitely not allocate additional funds, as we have our own security-related expenses, and they are among the highest in Europe," the politician noted.
The US plans to ask NATO allies to additionally finance arms purchases for Ukraine. Currently, the funding shortfall for agreed packages reaches $2 billion.
This refers to the PURL program, under which partners pay for weapons from the US, which are subsequently transferred to the Ukrainian army.
Furthermore, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the US has approved the potential sale of 500 PAC-3 interceptor missiles to Ukraine for $2.1 billion.
However, these missiles may only arrive in a few years, so Ukraine has asked partners to transfer ammunition from their own stockpiles as early as this winter. The President estimated the minimum need for this period at 100 missiles per month.
