Government says Patriot parts and missiles included while Nato chief expects announcements from other alliance countries soon. What we know on day 1,259
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The Netherlands has said it will contribute €500m ($578m/£500m) to buy US military equipment for Ukraine, becoming the first Nato country to contribute to a new mechanism to supply Kyiv with American weapons. The Dutch defence minister, Ruben Brekelmans, said on X on Monday that the package would include Patriot parts and missiles. Nato’s chief, Mark Rutte, welcomed the announcement and said he had encouraged other alliance members to participate in the new mechanism, called the Nato prioritised Ukraine requirements list (Purl) initiative. “This is about getting Ukraine the equipment it urgently needs now to defend itself against Russian aggression,” Rutte – a former Dutch prime minister – said in a statement, adding that he expected “further significant announcements from other allies soon”. President Donald Trump said last month the US would provide weapons to Ukraine, paid for by European allies, without providing details on how this would work.
The US ambassador to Nato said he expected many more countries to announce over the coming weeks that they would participate. “We’re moving as fast as possible,” Matthew Whitaker told Reuters on Monday. Asked about a timeline for getting US deliveries to Ukraine under the new mechanism, he said: “I think we’ll see it moving very quickly, certainly in the coming weeks, but some even sooner than that. The Dutch are just the first of many.”
