On January 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained that European countries supporting Kiev are acting too slowly in funding the plan to buy US-made weapons for Ukraine, calling progress this month "not enough".
Speaking after a meeting with the team on defense issues, Mr. Zelensky pointed out major issues related to the Initiative for a List of Priority Needs of Ukraine (PURL) - a mechanism coordinated by NATO to mobilize mainly financial resources from Europe to buy weapons, mostly from the US, to transfer to Kiev.
This plan was launched in August 2025, when European governments sought to maintain military support for Ukraine after US President Donald Trump ended direct weapons supply and argued that the conflict should mainly be handled by Europe.
The important thing is to implement all agreements with partners practically and promptly. The PURL initiative needs funding, and progress in January is not enough," Zelensky said, emphasizing Kiev's difficult situation due to lack of weapons.
Although not giving specific figures, Mr. Zelensky affirmed that funding has not reached the target in previous months.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in November 2025 that the total investment for PURL is expected to reach 5 billion USD by the end of the year.
However, by the end of December 2025, public figures show that only 4.3 billion USD has been committed since August 2025, of which nearly 1.5 billion USD was recorded in December 2025.
Not only that, internal political disagreements within the European Union (EU) make the issue even more complicated.
According to British, German and Dutch media, they want to ensure that Kiev can use the 90 billion euro (105 billion USD) loan package backed by the EU to buy weapons from the US. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron argued that EU funds should be prioritized to buy weapons manufactured by Europe to strengthen the bloc's defense industry.
