NATO allies expected to pledge ‘big’ spending to arm Ukraine

NATO allies are expected to pledge major spending into arming Ukraine against Russia’s deadly and destructive airstrikes, according to US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker.

Whitaker hinted that European allies will announce their financial support for Ukraine’s defenses in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday, stressing that the funding boost would strengthen the war-torn nation’s odds of reaching a potential peace deal with Russia, Bloomberg reported.

“Right now we’re just expecting our European allies to continue to buy (weapons) and there’ll be, like I said, some big announcements I expect tomorrow,” Whitaker told reporters on Tuesday.

“Now it’s time for our NATO allies to step up and really operationalize their commitment to Ukraine and the defense of Ukraine, in order to create a scenario where we can get a peace deal.”

The funding pledges will come through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), a special procurement program that allows Ukraine to purchase stockpiles of US weapons with cash provided by European partners, the outlet reported.

Whitaker said the PURL “is operating smoothly and efficiently now” after a report, published Tuesday by Germany’s Kiel Institute, indicated that total military aid to Ukraine in July and August fell by 43% compared to the first half of the year. 

The Trump administration halted aid and weapons shipments to Kyiv over the summer, shifting the financial burden on funding Ukraine’s military and needs onto European leaders. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — who will meet with Trump at the White House Friday — has since begged the president to send him long-range firepower, such as Tomahawk missiles, and vowed that he would only deploy them against military targets in Russia.

“I have the president coming in on Friday, and well, I know what he has to say,” Trump told reporters Tuesday of the Tomahawks, which can precisely hit targets over 1,500 miles away.

“He wants weapons. He would like to have tomahawks. Everyone else wants stuff, and we have a lot of tomahawks.”

That type of firepower will enable Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory, but selling those weapons to Kyiv risks escalating tensions with Moscow.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is expected to meet with NATO defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, and also plans to sit in with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a forum that has coordinated arms deliveries since Russia’s invasion.