Italy has expressed its readiness to participate in the US arms procurement program for Ukraine. Bloomberg reports this, citing informed sources. According to the publication, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto announced his readiness to finance the purchase of US weapons under a special program at the meeting of NATO defense ministers held last week. Rome initially opposed participating in the initiative, but changed its position out of fear of being sidelined if individual coalition allies took the lead in the program. Bloomberg notes that Italy has sent Ukraine at least 10 military assistance packages, including the SAMP/T air defense system. This procurement program is being implemented as part of the PURL initiative launched by the United States and NATO to speed up the supply of weapons to Kiev. According to Union Secretary General Mark Rutte, as of September 2, allies had purchased weapons for Ukraine in the US worth about $2 billion, Radiotochka NSN reported.
