WASHINGTON—The day after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, NATO leaders held a virtual summit. Each year since then, heads of state and government from Alliance members have met. Each year, too, Ukraine has been on the agenda. In the communiqué following The Hague summit last year, for example, allies reaffirmed their commitment to provide support to Ukraine.
Ukraine will once again feature on the agenda of the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara—Secretary General Mark Rutte said as much in his June 25 speech at the Atlantic Council. In Ankara, allies will have a have a chance to show the significant progress they have made in the past year in, for example, increasing their defense spending and sending aid to Ukraine. But they should also use the summit as an opportunity to press more European allies to participate in the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program.
A program that works
PURL was set up as an alternative to direct US military aid shipments to Ukraine, which the Trump administration wound down after coming into office in 2025. Under PURL, Ukraine identifies its capability gaps, European states and Canada provide funding, and US industry supplies the capabilities, primarily air-defense systems. Since its inception in July 2025, PURL has proven remarkably successful in supplying Ukraine with critical weapon systems. So far, twenty-six countries have sent more than four billion dollars’ worth of military aid through PURL.
