The PURL initiative, which involves the supply of American weapons to Ukraine funded by European countries under NATO coordination, faces challenges regarding scaling due to the issue of “burden sharing” among its participants. This was reported by Ukraine’s Ambassador to NATO, Alona Hetmanchuk.
This is reported by Kyiv24
The Issue of Participation and Contributions within NATO
According to Hetmanchuk, the main obstacle to further expanding the initiative is the distribution of financial responsibility among the participating countries. She noted that those states that already have financial resources have mostly fulfilled their commitments, making more than one contribution. However, engaging new participants remains a challenging task, as some countries have yet to make any contributions to PURL.
“Perhaps the biggest hurdle to intensifying and expanding PURL is the so-called burden sharing: the distribution of financial responsibility within NATO. Countries that have funds have mostly made their contributions. And not just one. When we encourage them to contribute again and again, they have every right to say – we are not against it, but there are countries that have not made any contributions at all,” the diplomat explained.
The official emphasized that Ukraine is actively working to encourage both new participants and those who have already contributed, understanding the importance of supplying American weapons for the country’s defense.
Results of Activities and Outcomes of the Initiative
Alona Hetmanchuk reported that currently, 25 countries have joined the initiative: of these, 23 are members of the Alliance, and two are NATO partners, Australia and New Zealand. According to diplomatic sources, Japan may also join PURL.
Among the leaders in terms of contributions, the diplomat named Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Sweden, and Denmark. These countries have formed the so-called first six in terms of investment in PURL.
Hetmanchuk also provided a specific example of the initiative’s effectiveness. In particular, on the night of February 3, when a record-scale attack with ballistic missiles targeted an energy facility, the interception of a significant number of missiles was made possible precisely due to interceptors supplied under PURL. This, she said, motivates other countries to join in supporting Ukraine with weapons from the U.S.
The PURL agreement between the U.S. and NATO was signed in the summer of 2025. According to Ukrainian authorities, the total amount of contributions to the program last year was $4.3 billion, of which nearly $1.5 billion was raised in December alone.