About 120,000 drones pledged by the UK, alongside additional funding for PURL and the Czech ammunition initiative, were announced at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Berlin on Wednesday.
The 34th gathering of the group took place at Germany’s defence ministry, co-hosted by the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, and his British counterpart, John Healey.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, and NATO’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, attended in person, while other members joined virtually.
US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, reportedly skipped the meeting, sending the Pentagon’s policy chief, Elbridge Colby, in his place.
Both Pistorius and Healey warned that “the eyes of the world are on the Strait of Hormuz,” but stressed that support for Ukraine must not falter despite the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Germany pledges Patriots for Ukraine
Pistorius reiterated Berlin’s latest military commitments announced on Tuesday during German-Ukrainian government consultations, where the two sides signed a €4 billion defence package, including hundreds of Patriot missiles and joint drone production, as well as an agreement to share digital battlefield data.
According to the defence ministry, Germany is financing a contract between Ukraine and Raytheon to supply several hundred Patriot missiles to bolster Kyiv’s air defences. “In addition, further launchers for IRIS-T air defence systems have been agreed with Diehl Defence. This project will also be financed by Germany and will significantly improve the protection of critical infrastructure and cities,” the ministry said.
Pistorius reaffirmed that strengthening Ukraine’s air defence remained Germany’s top priority, pledging hundreds of Patriot missiles to be delivered over the coming years alongside additional IRIS-T systems and jointly produced strike drones. According to Fedorov, these contracts will not be delivered immediately, but will reach Ukraine next year and the following two years.
He urged Kyiv’s allies, to “have a look at your stocks”, adding that Kyiv needs more PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles “to protect our critical infrastructure.”
‘Drones have defined this war’
UK Defence Secretary John Healey announced Britain’s largest drone package to date, with more than 120,000 units set to be delivered this year, alongside artillery rounds and air defence missiles. According to official UK government data, this new drone package is backed by the UK’s wider £3 billion (€2.6 billion) military support for Ukraine this year, as well as ERA funding.
“Drones have defined this war,” Healey said, claiming that they’ve caused the vast majority of Russian casualties and will be decisive in the war’s outcome.
Fedorov added that drones are responsible for the bulk of Ukraine’s counterattacks and are critical on both the battlefield and in strikes behind enemy lines, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement on Monday that the Ukrainian arm has recently captured a Russian position with only UAVs and ground robotic systems.
“For the first time in the history of this war, an enemy position was taken exclusively by unmanned platforms – ground systems and drones,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the operation was carried out without infantry and losses on the Ukrainian side.
Fedorov emphasised that Kyiv is pushing to scale up domestic drone production and accelerate deliveries to the frontline.
The support for Ukraine is now not a one-way-street anymore, as NATO-chief Mark Rutte explained at the meeting, saying that Ukraine’s expertise in using and countering drones is now feeding back into NATO, with allies learning directly from Ukraine’s battlefield experience.
“We are also now learning from you. We are learning from Ukraine,” he said.
PURL ‘keeps flowing’
Rutte highlighted the growing role of the NATO-led Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative in sustaining Ukraine’s air defence, stressing that it is key to keeping US-supplied capabilities flowing. The alliance launched PURL in July last year, with the aim to speed up funding and delivery of urgently needed military equipment to Ukraine, with a particular focus on sourcing US-made systems.
“Vital military equipment from NATO allies continues to flow into Ukraine,” Rutte reaffirmed, echoing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who confirmed a few weeks ago that “nothing yet has been diverted”.
Rubio didn’t rule out any future divertions, in case the US needed to replenish its own stocks. “If we need something for America and it’s American, we’re going to keep it for America first,” he said.
At the Berlin meeting, Rutte welcomed fresh contributions announced, without clarifying further what was pledged.
At the same time, both Rutte, Fedorov and Pistorius acknowledged ongoing gaps in burden-sharing, with the NATO chief noting that “it is a limited amount of countries doing the heavy lifting,” while expressing optimism that funding targets could still be met.