Strengthening air defense: The UK will allocate £500 million to Ukraine
12 February 16:19
British Defense Minister John Gilli announced that London will provide Ukraine with £500 million (approximately $681.4 million) to strengthen its air defense systems.
He told reporters about this before a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on February 12, according to "Komersant Ukrainian", citing Suspilne.
“This afternoon, I will confirm that the UK is providing Ukraine with an additional half a billion pounds for urgent air defense. In this way, the UK is acting as a force for good in the world, building a new agreement on European security within NATO,” said the head of the British Ministry of Defense.
In turn, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte noted before the meeting that London’s contribution to Ukraine’s air defense is both “bilateral assistance” and a partial contribution to the PURL initiative.
“So it’s important. But overall, you see Canada and Europe stepping up, spending billions more on defense, building up their defense industrial base, supporting Ukraine,” he said.
On February 11, in a comment to Politico, Gilli said that the UK’s contribution to the PURL program would be £150 million ($205 million).
PURL program
The PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) program was created in the summer of 2025 as a mechanism to continue supplying American weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Its distinctive feature is that in the event of a cessation of direct free aid from Washington, the White House agrees to sell its weapons and technology, but other NATO allies and partners pay for them. The priority for procurement is critical air defense systems and missiles for them.
Last year, Ukraine’s Western partners allocated about $5 billion to the PURL program.
At the same time, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently expressed confidence that this year the Alliance countries will be able to raise $15 billion for Ukraine.
