PURL Initiative: How It Works and What It Means for Ukraine’s Defense

The United States and NATO have launched the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative to expedite the delivery of affordable weapons and systems to Ukraine to strengthen its defense capabilities and contribute to sustainable peace.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to Defense Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal on Telegram.

The initiative is being implemented within the framework of agreements between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and provides an opportunity for NATO member states and partners to finance the supply of US weapons and technology through voluntary contributions.

The new instrument aims to quickly provide Ukraine with affordable weapons to strengthen its defense and bring about sustainable peace.

The PURL mechanism involves the preparation of a detailed list of equipment and ammunition that Ukraine identifies as a priority. These requests are approved at the highest level, by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), to ensure that they are aligned with the Alliance's overall strategy. New assistance packages under this initiative will be announced on a regular basis, which will ensure stability and predictability of supply.

NATO will play an important role in the implementation of this mechanism, coordinating the entire process of delivering equipment and ammunition. For this purpose, the Alliance's existing structures and mechanisms will be used, in particular the NATO Security Assistance and Training to Ukraine (NSATU) program. This approach ensures coherence of partners' actions and a quick response to Ukraine's needs in the face of ongoing aggression.

It is expected that this initiative will be divided into packages worth approximately $500 million. Reuters reported, citing an anonymous source, that through this approach, NATO allies hope to provide Ukraine with $10 billion worth of weapons. The Netherlands became the first country to provide Ukraine with a €500 million arms package, including parts and missiles for Patriot air defense systems.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the announcement and called on other allies to participate in the new mechanism. "I have written to all NATO Allies, urging them to contribute towards this burden sharing initiative, and I expect further significant announcements from other Allies soon,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that many countries are expected to join the PURL initiative in the coming weeks. He emphasized that deliveries under the new mechanism would begin very quickly - within weeks or even sooner. 

The Gaze previously informed that the United States and NATO have begun working on a new approach to supplying weapons to Ukraine, using NATO funds to pay for the purchase or transfer of American weapons. This process was launched after US President Donald Trump announced that the US would supply weapons to Ukraine at the expense of European allies.