Italy continues not to participate in Purl (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) initiated by the Trump administration, now one of the pillars of Western military assistance to Kyiv, which more than half of NATO allies have already joined.
“We said no from the beginning, and our answer is no,” confirmed Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on June 17 during a Question time at the Chamber, referring to the Purl program.
This month, the Atlantic Alliance declared that contributing countries have allocated nearly 6 billion dollars for the Purl program, funds that will be mainly destined for air defense systems for Ukraine, reports Defense News. The mechanism is provided for by the agreement reached during a bilateral at the White House last July between US President Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, which foresees the sale of armaments and defense systems – including the coveted Patriots – to alliance countries, which will purchase them and then deliver them to Ukraine, engaged in defending itself from Russian aggression.
NATO also specified that the program has helped finance the purchase from the United States of 70% of all missiles for Ukrainian Patriot batteries and 90% of all ammunition used in other air defense systems. Among the participating countries are Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Sweden, which last week announced it had invested 543 million dollars in the program.
“The goal is to raise 15 billion: until May only six have arrived,” explained Repubblica last week. “Five other nations have joined the call in recent days but Italy is not among them.”
All the details.
WHAT THE PURL INITIATIVE IS
The program was conceived by the American president as a distinctive element compared to Joe Biden’s approach: no more “non-repayable” aid, but a mechanism in which allies purchase American weapons and transfer them to Ukraine. A formula that allows the White House to take on a “near zero cost” commitment for federal coffers, transferring most of the financial burden to Europe.
As detailed in a statement from the Kyiv government last September 30, deliveries of the first two packages began already in mid-September, while Washington defined the composition of subsequent batches together with Ottawa and Berlin.
HOW IT WORKS
The mechanism compiles a list of equipment requested by Ukraine, which is then validated by the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, explains The Defense Post. NATO coordinates the delivery of the packages, also through the Security Assistance and Training program for Ukraine.
For months the United States have been waiting for Italy to participate in Purl (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List), without success.
MINISTER CROSETTO’S POSITION
Regarding the increase in NATO defense spending and the Purl program, “I have made no commitment” with Pete Hegseth during the last meeting in the United States, reiterated Defense Minister Guido Crosetto during a Question time at the Chamber because “defense ministers do not make commitments, governments and, if anything, parliaments do.” Regarding Purl, “we said no from the beginning and it continues to be no,” Crosetto added.
Last week the Defense Minister went to the United States to meet US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who, after the meeting, published a message stating that the two had agreed on the “urgent need for NATO allies to increase defense spending, expand industrial production in the defense sector, and deploy credible combat military forces.”
SECRETARY HEGSETH’S STATEMENTS
Defense News also reports that last Thursday Secretary Hegseth was in Brussels for a NATO Defense Ministers meeting. On that occasion, the Pentagon chief declared: “Some of NATO’s largest economies, some of our richest countries, allies who are more inclined to talk about a rules-based international order and cooperation among medium powers, still seem to think that the era of free-riding has arrived.” He did not specify which countries he was referring to.
THE FLIP-FLOPS ON SAFE
Meanwhile, while Rome closes the door on Purl, no progress appears on Safe (Security Action for Europe) either, the 150 billion euro instrument created by the European Union to support the strengthening of member states’ military capabilities.
“To date, the Safe mechanism has not been activated,” Minister Crosetto reiterated at the Chamber question time regarding the Italian government’s willingness to activate Safe European funds, specifying that if Italy joined, Defense “has investments ready” and “this would allow advancing investments that would otherwise be postponed.”
“The decision to join Safe funds is not one that the Defense Minister can make; it is a choice, taking into account other factors, made by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the government as a whole,” he explained, adding that the Safe European funds “are not a substitute instrument but are conceived as an additional tool to achieve defense goals sooner.”
IN VIEW OF THE NATO SUMMIT
While maintaining a cautious approach to new financing programs for armaments, Italy has communicated to NATO its intention to align with the Alliance’s new targets, which foresee total spending equal to 5% of GDP: 3.5% allocated to military capabilities and 1.5% to security-related activities.
On June 11, during a speech at the Chamber, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared that she would announce at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8 that Italian defense spending would reach 2.8% of GDP this year. This increase is due to a “growth of 0.71%, mainly guaranteed by spending related to national defense,” she stated in Parliament.
