How Military Aid to Ukraine Will Take Shape in 2026: NATO and US Plans
Within the strategic framework of supporting Ukraine’s security and defense, NATO revealed its intentions regarding the scope and forms of Western military assistance in the coming years.
NATO’s representative in Ukraine, Patrick Turner, disclosed during the international forum ‘Youth Beyond Borders: United in NATO’ that in 2022, allies already provided Kyiv with over 50 billion US dollars in military aid, and by 2026, Ukraine plans to increase its defense budget to over 120 billion dollars.
More than half of this amount is expected to come from international partners, while Ukraine will finance the remaining portion itself.
Notably, about 60 billion dollars will be allocated under the PURL initiative, agreed upon between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and US President Donald Trump.
According to this agreement, the US supplies necessary equipment, while European countries and Canada fund its procurement.
NATO’s leadership emphasized that this strategy is critically important for enhancing Ukraine’s defense capabilities and is a high political priority for both NATO and Ukraine.
The detailed military needs and forecasts have been developed jointly by NATO and Ukraine experts during a training and advisory mission in Wiesbaden, Germany.
However, Valeriy Chaly, former Ukrainian ambassador to the US and head of the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center, noted that after the completion of the previous military aid package, Ukraine was left without effective mechanisms for weapons supplies from the US.
Furthermore, the US defense budget for 2024 allocates only 500 million dollars, insufficient even to purchase a single Patriot missile system battery.
This situation raises concerns regarding the future level of US military support and underscores the need to develop new, effective mechanisms to strengthen Ukraine’s defense.