Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,
NATO member nations on Feb. 12 announced new financial support to purchase U.S. military hardware for Ukraine, reaffirming their commitment to ending the war this year.
“We want to make 2026 the year this war ends—the year we secure peace,” UK Secretary of Defense John Healey said after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels.
This month marks four years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when Russian forces launched an assault in the early morning hours of Feb. 24, 2022.
The UK approved $680 million in an emergency allocation for new air defense missiles and systems, Healey announced.
“We all welcome progress made by the U.S. to broker peace. For now, the war continues,” he said.
At the meeting, Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany announced they would fund a new $500 million package to purchase air defense equipment, ammunition, and other items from the United States.
Johann Wadephul, Germany’s foreign minister, said the country would also contribute to Ukraine’s anti-drone dome project designed to counter Russia’s drone swarms.
The homegrown dome system, formed by former businessman and television producer Pavlo Yelizarov, is designed to protect critical infrastructure and cities by destroying Russia’s incoming Iranian-designed suicide attack drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in January.
The dome is made up of small, mobile teams using cheap 3D-printed interceptor drones that scramble to destroy the incoming attacks. Deployment of the dome is scheduled for later this year.
Germany also plans to deliver five interceptor missiles if other supporting countries donate 30, Wadephul added. The country has also given five of its 12 Patriot interceptor missile surface-to-air systems.
“We all know it’s about saving lives,” Wadephul said. “It’s a matter of days, not months.”
On Feb. 3, Sweden and Denmark also approved aid to bolster Ukrainian air defenses with Swedish-made Tridon Mk2 systems, which are highly mobile and designed to counter drones and cruise missiles.
A firefighter douses a building hit by a Russian drone in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 12, 2026. Thomas Peter/Reuters
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte thanked the allied nations for continuing to contribute to Ukraine’s defenses while a peace deal is negotiated.
“Ukraine needs our support now more than ever,” Rutte said. “I’m urging all nations to step up their support and to share that burden. There are also many hard at work to ensure that the bloodshed stops and there is a lasting end to this war. We are committed to keeping this support as strong as possible now and into the future.”