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The U.S. leadership has changed its approach to the efforts of other partners in supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was stated by Ukraine’s Ambassador to NATO, Alyona Hetmanchuk, during a meeting with journalists in Brussels.
Hetmanchuk emphasized that she no longer feels the same constraints on supporting Ukraine that had been imposed by the White House — and which also applied to other partners.
“Under Biden, European allies were given a certain ceiling in the format of assistance, and other countries had to stay within that ceiling and by no means exceed it. Now, on the contrary, the Trump administration is encouraging Europeans to show what they are ready to do for their own security and in terms of supporting Ukraine,” the ambassador explained.
At the same time, she stressed that this does not mean the focus is shifting solely to European assistance. Weapons supplies from Europe cannot fully replace American military support.
“The U.S. has types of weapons that other countries simply cannot cover — either by nomenclature (meaning the types of weaponry) or by quantity and availability, meaning that these weapons are already in stock and can be delivered to Ukraine quickly,” she added.
Because of this, in all contacts with partners — particularly at the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels, which Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has also been invited to — Ukraine is prioritizing the issue of financing U.S. weapons purchases under the PURL program.
“When European partners see (in Ukraine’s explanations) that for some positions we cover 90% or even more through PURL, that becomes a serious argument for them to consider contributing to the initiative,” she said.
For reference, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker announced on Tuesday that new arms deliveries to Ukraine under the PURL framework would be announced later this week.
On Wednesday, October 15, the United Kingdom and Germany convened a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Earlier, Kyiv had stated that it particularly relies on the U.S. for the supply of critical air defense systems and long-range missiles, amid intensified Russian bombings across Ukraine.
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