NATO countries pledged on Wednesday, December 3, to purchase hundreds of millions of dollars more in US arms for Ukraine, signaling continued support despite ongoing US-led peace talks with Moscow. Foreign ministers from the 32-nation alliance met in Brussels to discuss Washington’s efforts to end the fighting.
The meeting followed an apparent lack of major breakthroughs after US envoys spent five hours in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
NATO chief Mark Rutte emphasized the need to strengthen Ukraine’s position regardless of the pace of negotiations, stating, “The peace talks are ongoing, that’s good, but at the same time, we have to make sure that whilst they take place — and we are not sure when they will end — that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going.”
As part of the commitment, Germany, Poland, Norway, The Netherlands, and Canada announced they would collectively contribute approximately one billion dollars more to a program purchasing American weapons for Ukraine.
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide affirmed the alliance’s resolve, saying, “Ukraine needs to stay strong and we, the allies in the largest and most successful military alliance in history, need to stay firm, and we need to stay committed.”
Ministers used the meeting to demand that President Putin end the violence and approach peace talks sincerely. British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper stated that Putin “should end the bluster and the bloodshed and be ready to come to the table and to support a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”
The ministers also countered recent statements from the Russian President suggesting he was “ready” for war with Europe. Finland’s Elina Valtonen dismissed the remarks as intimidation, noting, “It’s the rhetoric that Russia is making use of in order to intimidate us, and we shouldn’t take such talks too seriously. We have very strong capabilities as NATO, as Europe, and we are ramping up by the day.”
The US delegation was led by a deputy, as top diplomat Marco Rubio skipped the meeting, raising concerns that Europe may be sidelined in President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.
