NATO countries pledged on Wednesday, December 3, to buy hundreds of millions more dollars of US arms for Ukraine, sending a strong signal of continued support despite ongoing US-led peace talks with Moscow. Foreign ministers from the 32-nation alliance gathered in Brussels to discuss Washingtons push to end the fighting. The gathering comes shortly after US envoys appeared to fail to make a major breakthrough in five hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. NATO chief Mark Rutte emphasized the need to strengthen Ukraine's position regardless of the pace of negotiations. Rutte stated, The peace talks are ongoing, thats good, but at the same time, we have to make sure that whilst they take place and we are not sure when they will end that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight goingAs part of this commitment, Germany, Poland, Norway, The Netherlands, and Canada announced they would together commit approximately one billion dollars more to a scheme to buy American weapons for Ukraine.Norways Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide affirmed the alliances resolve, saying, Ukraine needs to stay strong and we, the allies in the largest and most successful military alliance in history, need to stay firm, and we need to stay committed.Allies at the meeting used the platform to demand that the Russian President end the violence and approach peace talks seriously. British foreign minister Yvette Cooper stated that Putin should end the bluster and the bloodshed and be ready to come to the table and to support a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. The ministers also firmly pushed back against recent comments from the Russian President that he was "ready" for war with Europe.Finlands Elina Valtonen dismissed the remarks as an intimidation tactic, noting: "Its the rhetoric that Russia is making use of in order to intimidate us, and we shouldnt take such talks too seriously. We have very strong capabilities as NATO, as Europe, and we are ramping up by the day.The US delegation was led by a deputy, as top diplomat Marco Rubio skipped the meeting. This absence risked reinforcing the impression that Europe is being left on the sidelines of President Donald Trumps diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
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