Hegseth calls on NATO allies to buy more US weapons for Ukraine
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is urging NATO countries to increase purchases of US-made weapons to send to Ukraine through the so-called PURL initiative, promoted by NATO and Washington this summer.
“Our expectation today is that more countries will donate even more, that they will buy even more, to provide Ukraine with the necessary means to bring that conflict to a peaceful conclusion,” Hegseth said in a brief statement to the press without questions along with the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte.
The head of the Pentagon participates today in a meeting of NATO defense ministers, which will be followed by a meeting of the contact group that brings together fifty countries in support of Ukraine (known as Ramstein after the German city where it met for the first time).
Hegseth considered that there is a “historic moment in which many things can happen,” taking into account “what the president (of the United States, Donald Trump) has been able to do in Gaza and throughout the Middle East.”
“The world is seeing that we have a pacifist president who seeks peace by supporting those who stand with the United States and defend peace, which is what we saw there, and I hope we can see in Ukraine,” he commented.
“That is the goal of our efforts. We are going to be strong to achieve it,” he added.
For his part, Rutte said that through PURL they have decided to ensure that Ukrainians “have what they need from the United States, paid for by the allies.”
“That program is already underway. So far 2 billion have been committed, and today I expect many new announcements from countries that will participate,” he noted.
