“Japan intends to join the initiative to help Ukraine with the purchase of non-lethal equipment.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: NHK citing sources
Details: Several NATO officials told NHK that Japan is expected to formally announce its plan to join the (PURL) initiative soon.
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Officials told Japan’s TRC that Japan would provide funding only for non-lethal defense equipment and gear, which would likely include radar systems and body armor.
NHK sources noted that Japan has informed several NATO members and Ukraine about this plan.
Literally from the NHK publication: “One of the NATO representatives noted that even non-lethal equipment is extremely important for Ukraine, adding that Japan’s participation in the initiative is a significant step forward.”
For reference: PURL is a joint US-NATO program launched in 2025. Its purpose is to accelerate the delivery of critical American-made weapons and equipment to Ukraine.
Partner countries finance purchases according to the priority list of Ukraine’s needs, coordinating contributions through a special NATO fund.
The mechanism makes it possible to quickly obtain the necessary weapons, in particular, anti-aircraft missiles for the Patriot air defense systems, directly from the warehouses of the United States.
What preceded: At the end of last year, Japan transferred 8.8 billion Japanese yen (about 47.7 million euros) to Ukraine as part of the fourth phase of the Emergency Recovery Program and agreed to launch the next phase of grant aid.
In January, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) allocated 4 billion yen (over 25 million dollars) for the demining of the territory and medical assistance to Ukrainians.
We will remind: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky publicly asks partners to hand over air defense missiles from warehouses; NATO assures that this work is already underway.
Earlier, the Secretary General of NATO announced that European countries will find more than $15 billion for the purchase of weapons for the Armed Forces.
Mark Rutte also said that before coming to Kyiv, the EU countries “sitting on stockpiles of interceptors” should transfer these missiles to Ukraine.
Disruptions in supplies are a painful issue for Kyiv, in particular, Zelenskyy explained that he “ran into” Europe in Davos due to problems with missiles for air defense.