US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday urged NATO allies to step up their spending on American-made weapons for Ukraine, after a report flagged a sharp drop in military aid during July and August.
“You get peace when you are strong. Not when you use strong words or wag your fingers, you get it when you have strong and real capabilities that adversaries respect,” he told reporters ahead of a meeting with his NATO counterparts at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
Bringing Conflict To ‘Peaceful Conclusion’
Hegseth urged allies to ramp up investment in the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) programme, which replaced US arms donations to Ukraine and now requires allies to pay for US weapons deliveries.
“Our expectation today is that more countries donate even more, that they purchase even more to provide for Ukraine, to bring that conflict to a peaceful conclusion,” he said.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he expected further pledges, noting that $2 billion already had been committed through the mechanism.
“NATO is stronger than ever & fairer: European Allies & Canada are pulling their weight and stepping up to equalise defence spending with the US. Looking forward to continue working together to keep our fighting forces powerful & preserve peace,” Rutte tweeted.
Short Of Expectations
However, this amount falls short of the $3.5 billion Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had hoped to secure by October.
Sweden, Estonia, and Finland pledged contributions on Wednesday, but countries including Spain, Italy, France, and Britain have faced criticism for holding back.
Ukraine remains heavily reliant on US weapons as it braces for another winter of conflict with Russia.
Military Aid Falls By Over 40%
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy reported on Tuesday that military aid to Ukraine fell by 43% in July and August compared with the first half of the year.
According to the institute, most military support now flows through the PURL initiative, which by August had been joined by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
(With inputs from Reuters)
