Italy Could Join PURL After All, Report Says

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto reportedly told a meeting of defense ministers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization last week that Rome was warming up to the idea of taking part in the purchase of weapons for Ukraine from the US under the (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, initiative.

Citing anonymous sources familiar with the confidential talks, Bloomberg reported that Italy seems to have reversed course on its reluctance to participate in the program: Previously, Rome’s stance was that other avenues were available for Ukraine to receive military aid.

Bloomberg reported that the change in position was partly due to worries in Rome that Italy could be could be sidelined politically if other European allies take center stage in the program.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been hailed as the “Trump whisperer” for her nearly unique position as a conservative leader within the G-7, and it is unlikely that she would want to jeopardize that relationship with the US President, who has championed the idea of Europe buying American weapons systems for Ukraine, rather than Washington providing them for free.

Meloni has continued to back Ukraine despite Rome’s limited defense budget. The Defense Ministry in Rome did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.

Italy has worked on at least ten military aid packages for Ukraine, state media Ukrinform reported. Rome’s contributions included donating air defense equipment such as SAMP/T batteries, the people said.

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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said last week that more than half the alliance’s 32 members had agreed to pledge money to help Ukraine buy US weapons. That number has grown quickly since a few weeks ago when only six nations had signed up.

While there is no published list of which countries are participating, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Shmyhal last week named Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia among some of the new additions. The original list included only the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Canada.

The UK is also reported to be studying the idea more closely, while it is one of several non-EU countries in Europe to provide weapons to Ukraine independently.

The PURL initiative is a new mechanism focused on supplying Ukraine with weapons from a list of its priority needs. It allows NATO members to fund the provision of U.S. arms and technologies through voluntary contributions.