Ukraine is struggling to secure fresh commitments from NATO allies to fund purchases of US weapons, Bloomberg reports, citing Ukrainian NATO Ambassador Alyona Getmanchuk.
"A small handful of countries are paying for the bulk of the weapons," Getmanchuk told Bloomberg, adding that the UK is the only contributor to have recently joined. "It's becoming difficult for Ukraine to approach the same few countries over and over," she said.
The shortfall compounds Ukraine's financial pressures as the war enters its fifth year. Hungary is blocking the release of a €90 billion ($104 billion) EU loan for Ukraine, and a political dispute in Ukraine's parliament risks delaying IMF aid payments.
The PURL mechanism and the $15 billion gap
Ukraine receives US weapons through a program called PURL — created after President Donald Trump returned to the White House and cut off direct aid to Kyiv. Under the arrangement, European countries and Canada pay for US military equipment that is then transferred to Ukraine.
Kyiv estimates it needs $15 billion in 2026 for such purchases. It sought a similar figure for 2025 but received only $4.3 billion in December, according to Bloomberg.
Deliveries are currently structured in $500 million packages, meaning future shipments could stall while Ukraine seeks enough pledges to reach that threshold. NATO allies are considering allowing Ukraine to collect aid as individual pledges arrive rather than waiting to assemble full packages, according to people familiar with the matter. "That approach may be harder for countries to sell domestically, but would ensure Ukraine receives a more steady supply of weapons," those people said.
A NATO official, responding to a request for comment, said allies were contributing to the PURL program and that equipment was regularly arriving in Ukraine.
Iran war, EU loan, and the Hungary veto
Despite the war in Iran drawing on US resources, military kit deliveries from the United States to Ukraine are unaffected for now. "Kyiv has received no signal" that Washington cannot deliver weapons due to the Iran conflict, Getmanchuk said.
Some European countries may be holding back pledges because the EU loan package could be unblocked within weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. Those funds would allow Ukraine to purchase US weapons not available in Europe, reducing pressure on EU governments to make separate commitments.
Hungary has conditioned lifting its veto on Ukraine repairing a Moscow-damaged pipeline that carries Russian fuel to the country — a stance many officials attribute to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's election campaign positioning.
Air defense and a Gulf option
Ukraine's most pressing need remains air defense, particularly systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, Getmanchuk said. If such equipment cannot be sourced from the United States, the only alternative is donations from other countries' stockpiles — a difficult path, she noted.
Gulf countries have emerged as a potential option. Getmanchuk said they have expressed interest in Ukraine's drone interceptors, which the country is currently producing at twice its own needs. "Ideally, Ukraine wants to exchange them for help with intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles," she said. "It can be either missiles themselves, or funds to purchase them."
