Zelensky: We expect a 3.5 billion-dollar US weapons fund to continue the fight against Russia

The financial agreement, known as Ukraine's List of Primary Requests (PURL), collects contributions from NATO member states, except the United States, to buy American weapons, ammunition and equipment.

We have received more than $2 billion from our partners specifically for the PURL” programme, Zelensky said at a joint news conference in Kiev with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

We will receive additional funding in October. I think we're going to have about $3.6 billion, ”, he stressed.

Zelensky did not elaborate on the weapons would come in the first shipments, but stressed that they would contain missiles for air defence systems, Patriot, and ammunition for the high-powered Arterial Missile Systems (HIMARS).

The outcome of the war in Ukraine still seems far away, despite US-led peace efforts for months.

Patriot systems are essential for protection from Russian missile attacks, while the HIMARS systems have significantly strengthened the Ukrainian Army's capacity for accurate shocks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia's readiness for peace talks, telling reporters Wednesday that “remains open for negotiations and we prefer to resolve the Ukrainian crisis by political and diplomatic means”.

However, Moscow has rejected the main proposals, and peace talks have also stalled.

Meanwhile, the latest Russian air strikes during the night caused disruptions in Ukraine's railway and energy services, officials said Wednesday. In addition, a Russian bomb hit a town in the southern region of Herson, wounding three women and a three-year-old girl, the regional leader, Oleksandr Prokudin, announced. / REL