United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Moscow on Wednesday that if its war on Ukraine does not come to an end, the US and NATO allies would \u201cimpose costs on Russia for its continued aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hegseth said \u201cFirepower, that\u2019s what is coming,\u201d to\u00a0Ukraine\u00a0through European nations\u2019 purchases of US weapons, but whether that includes American-made\u00a0Tomahawk missiles\u00a0is still not clear.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group of Kyiv\u2019s allies at NATO headquarters, Hegseth urged countries to increase investment in weapons purchases under the new Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative.<\/p>\n
Ukraine remains heavily reliant on US weapons more than three-and-a-half years after Russia launched its full scale ground invasion into the country.<\/p>\n
The program has seen $2 billion pledged for military equipment for Ukraine, however this falls short of the $3.5 billion that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hoped to have by October.<\/p>\n
Hegseth called on NATO countries to \u201cturn words into action in the form of PURL investments. All countries around this table, no free riders.\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said more than half of NATO member states have now committed to the PURL program, adding that \u201ccommitments\u201d made by European nations would soon turn into \u201ccapabilities\u201d for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing out of today\u2019s meeting we have over half of all allies so more than 16, 17 allies now committing to PURL,\u201d Rutte told NATO defense ministers gathered in Brussels.<\/p>\n
After pledging money at Wednesday\u2019s meeting Sweden\u2019s Defense Minister Pal Jonson told CNN\u2019s Isa Soares that there is \u201cmuch more alignment\u201d now between the position of the United States and Europe over Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would do a similar reading that Putin doesn\u2019t really seem interested in negotiating, and he certainly will not negotiate unless he is put under more pressure,\u201d Jonson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe road to peace in Ukraine goes by having more sanctions on the Russian economy and it goes by delivering more weapons to the Ukrainians,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal expressed his gratitude to the nations that had announced new contributions to the PURL program, and to the countries that joined the initiative on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need decisive action to increase pressure on Russia and force it to end its war,\u201d Shmyhal said.<\/p>\n
Ukraine wants European nations to be able to buy it sophisticated long-range Tomahawk missiles under that mechanism, but that decision rests on US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Trump said Wednesday that Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelensky will make the case for going on offense in the war against Russia when he visits the White House later this week.<\/p>\n
Zelensky is expected to push for access to the American Tomahawks, which would allow it to strike deep within Russia and potentially put Moscow within range.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want to go offensive,\u201d Trump said from the Oval Office. \u201cI\u2019ll make a determination on that, but they would like to go offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has previously indicated he may be willing to give Ukraine Tomahawks as his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war waxes and wanes.<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday warned that supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks would cause colossal damage to Washington\u2019s relations with Moscow.<\/p>\n
Lavrov, in an interview with Kommersant, said the move would be seen as a serious escalation, harming any chance of normalizing US-Russian relations that he described as being in a \u201cdeadlock.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the missiles are one of the key talking points in bolstering Ukraine\u2019s defense, the matter was not on the agenda for discussion in Brussels on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a bilateral question,\u201d said Rutte, NATO\u2019s secretary general, referring to direct discussions between Ukraine and the United States.<\/p>\n
NATO\u2019s defense ministers have already pledged more drones for Ukraine, with Britain pledging to deliver 100,000 drones and the Netherlands giving it 90 million euros ($104 million) to build its own.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s\u00a0recent incursions\u00a0into the airspace of various NATO nations \u2013 the most serious of which saw NATO aircraft fire their first shots of the war, shooting down\u00a0suspected Russian drones\u00a0over Poland last month \u2013 has focused European minds on how the continent responds.<\/p>\n
Russia has claimed it did not deliberately fly its drones into Poland and said its jets did not violate NATO airspace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf NATO is threatened, we will act, and we must meet his (Putin\u2019s) escalation with our strength,\u201d said Britain\u2019s Defense Minister John Healey on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Healey announced that British aircraft would continue operating in Polish airspace for the rest of the year, calling the Russian incursions \u201creckless, dangerous and totally unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said Europe needed a better solution than fighter jets to deter Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very proud that our Dutch F-35s were able to take out some Shahed drones in Poland,\u201d said Brekelmans, referring to the US-built aircraft that is among the most sophisticated fighter jets in NATO\u2019s arsenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut of course, we also need to learn from this. F-35s are not the most efficient way to take out drones, and we should find much more effective ways in order to do that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Russian threat is coming more, and more, on NATO territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to this threat, Latvia\u2019s Defense Minister Andris Spr\u016bds said that weaponry with the ability to hit targets in Russia is \u201ccrucial\u201d for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Russia bombs all sorts of civil infrastructure and kills civilians, for Ukraine it is also (a) legitimate right to hit military targets (in Russia), because this is also self-defense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s also what NATO is absolutely projecting, that in any circumstances, in any scenario, we will be also willing and able to hit with deep strikes,\u201d Spr\u016bds continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think this will be also important part of Ukrainian defense and deterrence: Don\u2019t hit our targets because we can hit you back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even after the Ukraine war ends, Russia will still pose a risk to Europe, Finland\u2019s Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen warned.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussia is really doing their military build-up for the second phase of their potential aggression\u2026 there are real threats for NATO after the Ukrainian war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hakkanen pointed to Russia\u2019s military modernization and the build-up of troops \u201cnearby our borders\u201d as signs.<\/p>\n
CNN\u2019s Clare Sebastian, Catherine Nicholls Nina Subkhanberdina and Jonny Hallam contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at\u00a0CNN.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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