Nordic and Baltic countries will jointly finance a 430-million-euro package of military equipment and munitions for Ukraine, sourced from the United States under NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, Lithuania’s Defence Ministry said Thursday.
The package will be funded by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas emphasised the importance of reaching a European agreement to use frozen Russian assets to back a loan for Ukraine’s defence needs.
“We need to reach a consensus on this at the European level as soon as possible,” the ministry quoted Kaunas as saying at a meeting of Nordic and Baltic defence ministers in Helsinki.
According to the ministry, Lithuania will contribute 25.8 million euros to the PURL package.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the decision, saying the new package would deliver much-needed support as Ukraine prepares for the winter.
“Our Nordic and Baltic allies are stepping up to fund a further package of critical military equipment for Ukraine,” Rutte said. “This equipment is extremely important as Ukraine enters the winter months, and deliveries through PURL are flowing into Ukraine. NATO allies will continue to deliver essential equipment and supplies.”
The PURL initiative is designed to help Ukraine meet its priority ammunition and equipment needs. Funding comes from European allies and Canada, with deliveries carried out by the United States.
Defence ministers at the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) meeting also discussed continued support for Ukraine, security on NATO’s Eastern Flank, strengthening air defence, and maintaining the presence of allied troops in the region.
The NB8, which includes Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, is one of Europe’s strongest supporters of Ukraine.
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