Ukraine will receive Patriot and HIMARS missiles as part of the first two weapons packages under a new program created by the United States and its allies, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.
The initiative, called the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), allows allies to fund American-made weapons for Kyiv based on a list of urgent needs.
Zelensky said the first two packages, worth $500 million each, will include US-made missiles and ammunition. He announced the innitiative at a joint press conference in Kyiv with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
“We have received more than $2 billion from our partners under the PURL program. In October we will receive more… I think in the end we will have about $3-3.5 billion,” Zelensky said.
On Sept. 16, Reuters reported that the Trump administration approved the first PURL weapons packages, funded by NATO allies. The weapons are expected to be sent soon. While the program was officially announced on Aug. 1, its launch came as an unwelcome surprise for Moscow.
The program stems from a July 14 agreement between US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, under which partners would purchase American weapons for Ukraine.
At the end of August, Zelensky said seven more countries – the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, and Latvia – joined PURL during the last month of summer, bringing total contributions to more than $2 billion.