US secures $1.5bn arms sales to Ukraine ahead of Alaska meeting
Iran Press TV
Friday, 15 August 2025 7:12 AM
The US has secured $1.5 billion in arms sales to Ukraine through European pledges, just hours before the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.
The announcement came in a virtual meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and officials from Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland, the EU, and NATO. US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance reportedly joined the call.
"As of today, we already have $1.5 billion pledged. Through the NATO Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, NATO members can cooperate to purchase US-made weapons for Ukraine - a mechanism that truly strengthens our defense," Zelensky wrote on social media.
Reports indicate that the Netherlands and Germany contributed $500 million each, while Denmark, Norway, and Sweden pledged a combined $500 million.
European leaders succumbed to pressure from the US to increase military spending to five percent of GDP, which leads them to purchase US-made armaments since European countries do not manufacture sufficient amounts of weapons to meet US demand.
On Thursday, the eve of the summit with Trump in Alaska, Putin held a meeting with his most senior ministers and security officials, where he spoke of a possible nuclear arms deal as part of upcoming negotiations over the war in Ukraine.
The initial meeting between the two presidents is reportedly limited and aimed at gauging the circumstances for additional meetings in the future involving delegations from both sides, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
The Russian official added that besides the "settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," trade, economic cooperation, and global security will also be discussed.
Trump last week suggested that there could be "some swapping of territories" as part of a ceasefire deal, but Zelensky later warned that Ukraine will not give up its land "to occupiers."
After hearing about the August 15 Alaska summit, from which he was excluded, Zelensky said, "We understand the Russians' intention to try to deceive America - we will not allow this."
Head of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Ukrainian parliament, Oleksandr Merezhko, also expressed pessimism about the summit, saying, "I don't expect any breakthrough from this summit."
Ukraine is reportedly doubling down on demands for an unconditional ceasefire before moving ahead with any negotiations, retaining all territory it has captured, $1 trillion in reparations from Russia, NATO membership, and unconditional release of all prisoners.
As the Berlin meetings were ongoing, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of two communities in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
"Battlegroup Center units liberated the settlements of Suvorovo and Nikanorovka in the Donetsk People's Republic through active and decisive operations," the ministry said.
Russia has formally claimed to annex four provinces in the east of the country: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson since 2022, in addition to annexing Crimea in 2014.
Turkish-hosted ceasefire talks between Moscow and Kiev last month failed to yield significant progress.
The US and Russia held talks in Saudi Arabia in March this year, agreeing to establish a path to ending the Ukraine conflict, but failed to do so.
While meeting with Russia for a peace deal, Trump announced it would be sending "massive" supplies of weapons to Ukraine.
He also issued a 50-day deadline for a deal to be made, after which he would impose 100 percent tariffs on Russia.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
