Poland has suspended funding for purchases of American weapons for Ukraine – Tusk explained the reason
Kyiv • UNN
Warsaw will temporarily not finance new purchases of American weapons for Ukraine due to high defense spending and the budget deficit.
Poland is temporarily suspending the allocation of additional funds to purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine under the PURL program. The reason is Warsaw's substantial spending on its own defense and the high state budget deficit. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this in an interview with TVP Info, UNN reports.
Details
According to the Polish prime minister, the country has already provided Ukraine with extensive military assistance and continues to support it, but currently does not plan to make new contributions to the PURL program.
At this stage, we will not allocate additional funds to the PURL project, that is, European money to purchase American weapons for Ukraine. Since we are spending a great deal on our own armaments, we have helped and continue to help Ukraine on a truly large scale
He noted that he had already informed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte of Warsaw's decision. The Polish prime minister explained that it was prompted by the significant budget deficit and defense expenditures, which are among the highest in Europe.
What is known about the PURL program
The PURL initiative, launched in July 2025, provides for the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine at the expense of European countries and Canada.
According to the Ukrainian government, during the program's first year of operation, 29 countries financed the delivery of weapons worth more than $6.7 billion.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that, thanks to this mechanism, the country received about 95% of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems and up to 90% of missiles for other air defense systems. PURL was also used to purchase ammunition for HIMARS, artillery shells, and aerial bombs.
Poland's total contribution to the program amounted to $100 million. Warsaw announced the allocation of these funds in November 2025, and they were subsequently included in a joint $500 million aid package together with funding from Germany and Norway.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the flow of contributions to PURL had slowed, while the funding shortfall for packages already approved had reached approximately $2 billion. Against this backdrop, the United States planned to call on its NATO allies to increase their financial participation in the program.