Ukraine expects $3.5 billion fund for US weapons to sustain fight against Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Kyiv expects to have around $3.5 billion in a fund to purchase weapons from the United States by next month, as the country’s war with Russia stretches into its fourth year.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Kyiv with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Zelenskyy said the financing is being pooled through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), a mechanism that allows NATO allies, apart from the United States itself, to combine resources and acquire American weapons and military equipment for Ukraine.

“We received more than $2 billion from our partners specifically for the PURL programme. We will receive additional money in October. I think we will have somewhere around $3.5–3.6 billion,” Zelenskyy said.

While he did not disclose details of the first arms packages, the Ukrainian leader confirmed that deliveries will include Patriot air defence missiles and ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

Both systems have been central to Ukraine’s defence: the Patriot batteries are one of the few effective shields against Russian missile and drone attacks on urban centres and energy infrastructure, while HIMARS have enabled precision strikes against Russian logistics and command posts far behind the front lines.

The PURL arrangement is relatively new, created earlier this year to ensure a steady pipeline of advanced Western weaponry at a time when Ukraine’s allies faced political and budgetary hurdles in sustaining bilateral aid.

By pooling resources, European allies can tap into the US defence industry’s scale, while ensuring that deliveries align with Ukraine’s battlefield priorities. Officials in Kyiv view the fund as a lifeline to keep their armed forces supplied through what has become a prolonged and attritional war.

Despite such support, an end to the conflict appears no closer. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Wednesday that Moscow is open to negotiations and “prefers to settle the Ukrainian crisis by political and diplomatic means.” But talks have stalled, with Russia objecting to key proposals put forward by Kyiv and its partners.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to endure near-daily Russian strikes. The latest overnight barrage disrupted railway and power services across several regions, while in Kherson a glide bomb strike injured three women and a three-year-old girl, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Alongside military assistance, Kyiv is also seeking to bolster its economy and reconstruction capacity. Senior officials announced Wednesday the launch of a new US-Ukraine fund to drive investment in the country’s mineral sector, starting with $150 million in seed capital. The US International Development Finance Corporation is committing $75 million, matched by Ukraine.

Economy minister Oleksii Sobolev said the fund would serve as a “beacon” to attract further investment from global institutions. “This is enough to launch the first significant investments,” Sobolev said.

Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said the fund would initially target energy, infrastructure, and critical mineral projects, with a goal of financing three ventures by the end of 2026. Critical minerals such as lithium, rare earths, and titanium are seen as strategically important for both Ukraine’s recovery and Western supply chains.

The agreement underpinning the fund, signed in April, grants the US preferential access to new Ukrainian mining projects. Officials say the deal is designed both to strengthen Ukraine’s postwar economy and to underpin continued American military assistance, tying security and reconstruction together.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the United States has committed more than $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including air defence systems, long-range artillery, and training programmes for Ukrainian troops. But debates in Washington over the scale and sustainability of this support have grown more prominent, prompting European allies to shoulder a larger share through initiatives like PURL.

For Kyiv, ensuring uninterrupted supplies of ammunition and advanced systems is critical as its forces brace for a difficult winter campaign. Russian forces continue to press offensives in the east and south, while missile and drone attacks on infrastructure raise fears of renewed blackouts similar to those endured last winter.

Zelenskyy’s announcement of incoming funds is therefore intended both as a reassurance to Ukrainians and as a message to Moscow that Western backing remains intact. The combination of pooled military aid and joint economic projects with the US is aimed at signalling that Ukraine’s war effort and its longer-term reconstruction are linked, and that its partners are committed to both.

With AP/PTI inputs