Sweden, Norway, Denmark give $500 million to NATO project to send US weapons to Ukraine

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden, Norway and Denmark will contribute around $500 million to a NATO-led initiative to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons, including Patriot missiles, to ensure it can continue to defend itself against Russia, the three countries said on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last month the United States would supply weapons to Ukraine, paid for by European allies, but did not indicate how this would be done.

"With this contribution, we want to ensure that Ukraine quickly receives the equipment it needs, while strengthening NATO cooperation on Ukraine's defence and securing peace on Ukrainian terms," Norwegian Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik said in a statement.

Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the money would be available immediately and that Denmark would be willing to consider additional funding at a later stage.

"Speed is absolutely critical," he said in a statement.

Denmark's share is around $90 million while Norway said it will contribute around 1.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($146 million).

Sweden said it was contributing $275 million to the package, which includes Patriot missiles and other air defence equipment, as well as anti-tank munitions.

"Continued supply of this kind of American defence materiel, which Europe can't deliver in sufficient quantity, is decisive for Ukraine's defence capability," Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch told reporters.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance was grateful to the three Nordic countries for their fast action to fund the package.

NATO has said it would coordinate the NATO Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, which is funded by European members of the alliance and Canada and will be divided into packages worth approximately $500 million.

The Netherlands on Monday was the first country to announce its participation with 500 million euros.

According to the Swedish government website, the country had donated 92.8 billion Swedish crowns to Ukraine by end of March this year.

($1 = 10.2815 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Simon Johnson, Essi Lehto and Louise Rasmussen, editing by Andrew Heavens, Alex Richardson and Giles Elgood)