Canada pledges more than $200M in funding for Ukraine at NATO meeting
CBC
Canada is spending more than $200 million on military equipment for Ukraine, making the purchase through an international mechanism set up by NATO and the Trump administration.
The Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) was established following the Western alliance's summit last June at the Hague and came into being at the insistence of the United States, which called on allies to share more of the burden in equipping Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump has long sought to reduce the amount of military hardware his country was donating to help Kyiv fight off the war started after Russia's full invasion of its neighbour nearly four years ago.
This is the second time Canada bought equipment for Ukraine through PURL. The first time was in August, when approximately $680 million was set aside.
Under the mechanism, Ukraine identifies its most critical and urgent defence requirements, such as air defence systems and artillery ammunition. Those priorities are reviewed and jointly approved each month, and then purchased from either U.S. manufacturers or from existing American stockpiles.
The announcement on Wednesday comes as NATO's foreign ministers, including Canada’s Anita Anand, meet to discuss the U.S.-led peace initiative aimed at ending the war. Ukraine is under pressure to accept an agreement which is widely seen as unfavourable to Kyiv.
A day earlier, Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, along with the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Russian officials say the meeting was "constructive" but "no compromise" had been reached over territorial concessions for Ukraine.
Before Tuesday's talks, Putin had said Europe's demands in support of Ukraine were unacceptable.
"We are not going to fight with Europe, but if Europe wants to fight with us, we are ready right now,” the Russian president said.
On Wednesday, Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs, said Putin's remarks show "he does not plan to end the war."
In a prepared statement ahead of meeting with her counterparts in Brussels, Anand said it’s important to show solidarity with Ukraine at this moment.
"Canada's contribution reflects our unwavering commitment to Ukraine and to the security of the Euro-Atlantic region," Anand said. "Through this second contribution to the NATO PURL initiative, we join allies in delivering critical capabilities that Ukraine needs now."
Also in a prepared statement, Defence Minister David McGuinty said the contribution to PURL will ensure Ukraine receives the advanced capabilities it urgently needs to defend its sovereignty and protect its people.
Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Canada has committed $22 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including $6.5 billion in military aid.
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