Poland Refuses to Fund Purchase of American Weapons for Ukraine Under PURL

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced after an informal summit of EU leaders in Dublin that Warsaw will not allocate funds for the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine under NATO's PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) initiative. He informed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte of the decision.

"For now we will not allocate funds for the PURL project," Tusk said at a briefing, explaining that under this project the Europeans collect money for American weapons for Ukraine, while Poland spends a great deal on its own armaments.

According to him, Poland has already provided Kyiv with significant assistance since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion and bears one of the highest levels of per-capita security spending in Europe. "In terms of financial capacity, Poland will no longer contribute money," the prime minister added, noting that Poland has seriously helped and continues to help Ukraine, that it has a high deficit, spends a great deal on defense, and that its own security spending is probably among the highest in Europe.

PURL is a NATO-coordinated mechanism through which European allies pool financial resources to purchase American weapons, ammunition and air defense interceptors directly for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Tusk's statement points to growing financial strain within the initiative. On November 13, President Volodymyr Zelensky, following consultations with the leaders of the Northern Five (N5), noted that the PURL program currently lacks sufficient funding and requires new contributions from European partners to ensure weapons deliveries by winter.

Norway previously allocated 2.8 billion kroner ($302 million) to PURL. Warsaw, by contrast, has bet on the rapid modernization of its own army, directing more than 4% of GDP to defense — along NATO's eastern flank.

Despite refusing to fund purchases of American weapons through PURL, Warsaw maintains bilateral humanitarian, energy and diplomatic support for Kyiv and remains the main logistics hub for Western aid entering Ukraine.

On November 6, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced in Warsaw that Poland would provide an additional 8 million zloty ($2 million) for the purchase of electric generators for Ukraine ahead of the heating season. Sikorski also confirmed diplomatic support on the eve of mediation peace talks in Abu Dhabi, warning that a settlement cannot be imposed on Ukraine without its explicit consent and direct participation at the negotiating table.