US to ask NATO allies for more money for PURL, with a gap of about $2 billion in approved weapons packages

Washington is preparing to ask NATO allies for more money for PURL, the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, the mechanism through which Europeans and other partners pay for American weapons that end up in Ukraine. The request could be made as early as November, Bloomberg reported on Monday, November 2, citing people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The United States has already told some allies it will ask for new funding. The exact amount remains open, but the agency’s sources speak of a gap of about $2 billion in weapons packages that have already been approved.

Weapons leave before the money arrives

Deliveries did not stop when allied contributions fell behind. The US kept sending weapons to Kyiv before being fully paid, and the gap could grow if the Pentagon decides on new shipments. Critical air-defence assets and other military equipment have already been sent through PURL, and the mechanism is considered the cornerstone of NATO’s effort to support Ukraine’s defence.

In October the US had threatened to freeze PURL deliveries over Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. The threat was not carried out and the programme kept running, Bloomberg’s sources say.

Confusion among allies

The contradiction between military aid and Donald Trump’s statements has confused allies and at times made it harder to secure money for new weapons. Europeans are increasingly reluctant to fund a war entering its fifth year, while important countries such as Spain, France and Italy hold elections in 2026 or next year. Trump and Elon Musk have called on Volodymyr Zelensky to step down, and the US president wrote on Truth Social in October that his Ukrainian counterpart “could have made a better deal two years ago”. Zelensky, for his part, has accused the US of slowing Starlink speeds for his army and of delaying earlier Patriot shipments through PURL.

The Jerusalem Post notes that the plan comes after NATO approved Ukraine buying weapons and ammunition through its own structures. Separately from PURL, the State Department approved on October 30 the sale of Patriot missiles to Kyiv worth $2.1 billion, to be paid for through donations by Canada, Germany, Norway and the EU, at a time when Ukrainian air defence has reached critically low stocks. Such sales usually take years from approval to delivery.