Belgium allocates further 100m euros to Ukraine weapons programme

21 April 2026

Belgium has decided to allocate a further 100 million euros to the PURL programme, under which NATO countries pay to supply Ukraine with weapons from US stocks. Foreign minister Maxime Prévot announced the contribution on Tuesday.

The Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List was launched within NATO in 2025. It provides for US-made ammunition and weapons, which the allies buy from the US and make available to Ukraine. This includes air defence systems, which are needed by Ukraine to repel Russian attacks.

Belgium had already announced a contribution of 100 million euros for the initiative in August, and Defence minister Theo Francken announced a new contribution this month during a meeting with NATO partners.

“I urge my European colleagues to remain vigilant to ensure that, through this mechanism, Ukraine continues to have the necessary financial resources to sustain its resistance,” Prévot said on Tuesday. He also called for vigilance regarding the “messages and threats” from Belarus, given the risk that Belarus could form an “objective alliance” with Russia in the conflict.

"I urge my European colleagues to remain vigilant to ensure that Ukraine continues to have the financial resources to sustain its resistance"

Prévot hopes the 90 billion loan from the EU for Ukraine will be approved swiftly, following Peter Magyar’s victory over Viktor Orban in Hungary's parliamentary elections this month.

Orban had blocked the loan for as long as the Druzhba pipeline that carries Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia was blocked. The pipeline has now been repaired and can resume operations, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday, ending a months-long standoff between Kyiv and Budapest.

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The loan is on the agenda for a meeting of ambassadors of the member states on Wednesday. The High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, said she expected a positive decision.

“We must continue to give Ukraine what it needs to hold its own, until Putin understands that this war leads nowhere,” she said on Tuesday evening. “Following Hungarian elections, there is a new momentum and I expect a positive decision on the 90 billion euro loan in the next 24 hours.”

^{A soldier adjusts a machine gun at a training ground in Ukraine © PHOTO VIACHESLAV MADIIEVSKYI / UKRINFORM / NURPHOTO}

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