Spain to Join PURL Initiative Amid Trump’s Criticism

Amid criticism of the U.S. President Donald Trump, Spain has decided to join the initiative to purchase American weapons for Ukraine.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to European Pravda, citing El Pais.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Spain's intention to join the PURL initiative, which provides for the joint purchase of American weapons for Ukraine within the framework of NATO programs, before the start of the EU summit in Brussels.

He stressed that Spain remains committed to both the North Atlantic Alliance and supporting Ukraine in the war against Russian aggression.

Madrid's decision was a kind of response to criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly reproached Spain for its low defense spending and even suggested excluding it from NATO.

Sánchez, in turn, said that it was his government that was gradually increasing defense funding and fulfilling commitments that had previously been ignored by the previous administration.

Until now, Spain had refrained from participating in the PURL program, causing discontent among its allies after refusing to support an increase in NATO's defense budget at the June summit.

As The Gaze reported earlier, Spain’s national gas network operator Enagás has declared it is ready to completely phase out Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports by 2027.