The United Kingdom is set to increase its military support for Ukraine by an additional 200 million British pounds (€233 million/$255 million) for the next financial year.
London announced the “major new package of support” to coincide with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s trip to Kyiv on Friday.
The extra funds would bring the UK’s total support for Ukraine to 2.5 billion British pounds.
“The Ministry of Defence will work with international partners to significantly scale up the number of drones provided for Ukraine’s defense,” the government statement said.
This would include “a major push to rapidly procure and produce thousands of military drones for Ukraine, including surveillance, long-range strike and sea drones.”
Sunak is also set to sign a “historic” security cooperation pact with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This would seek to formalize “a range of support the UK has been and will continue to provide for Ukraine’s security, including intelligence sharing, cybersecurity, medical and military training, and defense industrial cooperation,” according to the UK government statement.
“For two years, Ukraine has fought with great courage to repel a brutal Russian invasion,” Sunak said ahead of the visit.
“I am here today with one message: the UK will also not falter. We will stand with Ukraine, in their darkest hours and in the better times to come,” he added.
ab/wd (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)
