WSJ: Republicans develop plan to allow Europeans to buy weapons for Ukraine

Members of the Republican Party in the Senate have developed a plan that would allow the US's European allies to buy weapons for Ukraine. This was reported by the newspaper The Wall Street Journal with reference to unnamed interlocutors familiar with the initiative.

The law was drafted by Senators Roger Wicker and Jim Risch. The document is the most detailed plan to date to implement US President Donald Trump's initiative to supply Kyiv with weapons at the expense of Europe.

Wicker chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee and Risch chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, which gives the bill weight on Capitol Hill, journalists noted.

The bill would create a fund at the U.S. Treasury Department to accept funds from allies. The Secretary of Defense could then use the fund to pay contractors who replenish U.S. arsenals so that the Pentagon can continue to send arms to Ukraine without undermining U.S. readiness, Republican aides familiar with the initiative said.

They added that funding would amount to $5-8 billion a year. Among the likely sponsors, they said, are Germany and the United Kingdom.

Currently, European allies are already paying for the production of new weapons for Ukraine from American contractors, but this process can take years. The new mechanism will speed up deliveries by using existing US stockpiles.

The plan is expected to be presented to Trump and NATO allies.

"This is the fastest way to arm Ukraine and minimize the strategic and military threat that Russia poses to the United States and NATO," said Wicker.

At the same time, Risch added that this would send a signal to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that refusal to negotiate will have consequences.

Wicker has discussed the bill with the White House, which has been largely positive about the idea, aides said. The plan is to introduce it later this year as part of the annual defense policy bill drafted by the committee chaired by Sen.

• On July 14, 2025, Trump said that NATO and the United States had signed an agreement to supply weapons to Ukraine at the expense of Europe. He did not disclose the details of the plan.
• On July 19, it was reported that the Trump administration would redistribute weapons supplies, including air defense systems, to allies so that those states that give up their stockpiles to Ukraine would receive them first.