© EPA/ HOW HWEE YOUNG According to Hegset, there will be no peace without strength.
The US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, called on NATO partners to raise their expenditures on American weaponry for Ukraine within the PURL initiative. This occurred in Brussels leading up to a gathering of the alliance’s defense heads and after a report surfaced indicating a notable decrease in military aid to Kyiv during July and August, Reuters states.
“Peace comes about when you possess strength, not merely through using harsh language or making threats, but through having genuine and formidable capabilities that your rivals acknowledge. We anticipate today that more nations will dedicate even greater resources, procuring even more to assist Ukraine, in order to bring this dispute to a serene resolution,” he stated.
The PURL project encompasses optional financial support from allies, which the United States then utilizes to procure arms for consequent delivery to Ukraine. As per NATO Chief Mark Rutte, aggregate donations presently total $2 billion, though President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had wished for this sum to attain $3 billion by October.
Currently, Sweden, Estonia, and Finland committed their resources. Nations like Spain, Italy, France, and the UK have encountered critique for abstaining from declaring contributions.
It’s worth noting that Lithuania joins the NATO initiative PURL. According to the Defense Minister, Vilnius is assigning $30 million to the initiative
