As part of the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program, Poland will allocate $100 million for the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine. The purchases will be financed from the budget of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the head of the ministry, Radosław Sikorski.
“Europe’s security will be enhanced or diminished as a result of how this war ends,” Sikorski stressed, according to Polsat News.
As reported, the initiative to finance the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine came after the US administration refused to continue supplying weapons to Kyiv free of charge. In August, four packages of American weapons were prepared for a total amount of about $2 billion. The funding was provided by Germany, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
On August 15, at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, and Iceland announced their decision to join the program to finance Ukrainian defense orders within the framework of the NATO initiative “Priority Urgent Requirements List for Ukraine” (PURL).
On October 23, Spain announced its agreement to join the PURL project in response to renewed criticism from US President Donald Trump regarding Spain’s unwillingness to increase military spending.
Beijing has never provided weapons to either side of the Ukrainian conflict and does not intend to tolerate G7 attempts to put the blame on China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday.
“China has always been open and honest about the Ukrainian crisis, has not provided lethal weapons to either side of the conflict, strictly controls dual-use goods and will never accept the G7’s attempts to shift blame or label China,” the Global Times quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.
Lin Jian commented on the statement of the G7 foreign ministers, in which the ministers condemned Beijing for allegedly transferring weapons and dual-use goods to Moscow.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman noted that the authors of the statement ignored the facts and deliberately vilified China, interfering in the internal affairs of the country. He emphasized that Beijing is extremely dissatisfied with such a position of the G7 and strongly opposes the statement.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday night, the G7 foreign ministers condemned countries they believe are supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“We condemn the provision of military support to Russia by the DPRK and Iran, as well as the provision of arms and dual-use goods by China,” the statement said.
The ministers also expressed concern over the “military build-up by the Chinese army” and “unilateral attempts to change the status quo, in particular by force or coercion” in the East China Sea and South China Sea.
Ukraine will open offices in Berlin and Copenhagen this year to sell arms for export, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced.
“We are opening two export capitals. You know that this is co-production and export, which we talked about, of weapons that we can afford to sell in order to have additional money for our domestic production of scarce items, for which we do not have enough money,” Zelensky said at a briefing on Monday.
According to the president, the opening of the first two representative offices was decided not at the level of companies that will be involved in co-production, but at the level of states.
“The first two capitals are our representative offices, Berlin and Copenhagen. This will happen this year,” the president added.
The Finnish government has decided to allocate €100 million for the purchase of weapons from the US for transfer to Ukraine, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced on Thursday.
“On Thursday, the government decided to allocate €100 million to support Ukraine by purchasing weapons from the US. This is a NATO-coordinated support package called PURL. Finland is participating in a joint support package for the Baltic and Northern European countries, which is planned to be delivered to Ukraine in the near future,” the Finnish prime minister said, as quoted by the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.
“The situation in Ukraine is critical. Yes, we must participate. We cannot stand aside when all the countries of Northern Europe and the Baltic States are involved,” he stressed.
According to Orpo, the funding will be provided through external borrowing and Finland’s budget will not be revised, “even though it will increase the debt.”
The initiative to finance the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine came after the US administration refused to continue supplying weapons to Kyiv free of charge. In August, four packages of American weapons were prepared for a total amount of about $2 billion. The financing was provided by Germany, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
On August 15, at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, and Iceland announced their decision to join the program. In October, Spain also announced its participation.
Spain has agreed to join the PURL project to purchase American weapons for Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in response to renewed criticism from US President Donald Trump over Spain’s unwillingness to increase military spending.
“We are a reliable country,” Sanchez said upon arrival at the European Council, where he also confirmed that Spain would purchase weapons from the US for Ukraine, El Pais reported on Thursday.
According to the publication, the country will participate in the US arms supply program (PURL), but the exact amount that Madrid is willing to spend has not yet been determined.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that the Foreign Ministry will play a role in relation to potential partners in the controlled export of Ukrainian weapons.
“Support for our defense industry is an absolute priority for our diplomacy. It includes three priorities. The first is more investment. The second is support for the president’s initiative on the possibility of exporting surplus products from our defense industry,“ Sybiga said during his opening remarks at the third International Defense Industry Forum (DFNC3) on Monday.
According to Sybiga, the Foreign Ministry ”will play its role here with regard to potential partners.”
“Those countries that today take a passive position on supporting Ukraine, that provide covert or overt support for Russian aggression, will certainly not be included in the list of partners who will be able to cooperate with Ukraine and Ukrainian companies in this area,” the head of the ministry said.
The third priority of the Foreign Ministry in supporting the Ukrainian defense industry, Sibiga added, is “to create a real multiplier effect from our weapons.” In particular, this refers to the creation of jobs for Ukrainian citizens in Ukraine.
“This, by the way, is also our integration into the European Union. The latest Eurobarometer says that it is precisely because of our contribution to security that we are most eagerly awaited as a future member of the EU,” the minister added.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/diplomats/1110142.html
