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Rishi Sunak called on western allies to urgently secure military aid packages for Ukraine on Friday as he announced UK military funding to the country would increase to £2.5bn in the next financial year on a visit to Kyiv.
The UK prime minister and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a “historic” bilateral agreement on security co-operation, which Sunak said would “formalise” Britain’s “long-term” support for Kyiv.
“Ukraine is not alone, and Ukraine will never be alone,” Sunak told reporters inside the Mariinsky Palace, vowing that the UK would “provide the support Ukraine needs” if Russia “attacks again”.
“Our opponents around the world believe that we have neither the patience nor resources for long wars. So waver now, and we embolden not just Putin, but his allies in North Korea, Iran and elsewhere,” he added.
Zelenskyy called the deal “unprecedented”, adding: “Our common goal is to ensure that an attack on Ukraine will never happen again once the current Russian aggression has been halted and Ukraine strengthened.”
Sunak’s message of reassurance and commitment of British military aid for the coming financial year, an increase of £200mn over the past two years, sought to assuage fears in Kyiv that western support for Ukraine is waning.
The Israel-Hamas war and air strikes this week by the US and UK against Houthi rebels in Yemen have diverted international attention away from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
The UK assistance comes as the US and EU struggle to secure support packages for Ukraine collectively worth hundreds of billions of dollars, even though individual European countries have made sizeable commitments of military aid.
A US assistance package worth $61bn has been held up in Congress, with Republicans demanding that supplemental aid to Ukraine be contingent on more funding for US border security. Talks are resuming this month but are expected to be contentious.
Zelenskyy visited Washington a month ago but meetings with top Republicans including House Speaker Mike Johnson yielded no immediate results.
Washington’s most recent assistance package for Kyiv was announced on December 27 and included crucial air defence munitions, artillery and more. At the time, the Pentagon said it would probably be the last package until Congress passed new legislation.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has blocked a €50bn financial package to keep Ukraine’s government running, although there are signs a deal could be struck between Budapest and Brussels.
Ukrainian soldiers say they have been forced to ration artillery shells, undercutting their ability to attack and defend against Russian forces, who have recently pressed ahead with offensives in several locations along the 1,000-kilometre frontline in Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions.
Kyiv has warned that it is running dangerously low on air defence munitions at a time when the capital and cities across the country have faced some of the biggest aerial assaults since the war started.
The UK on Friday said its new support package would include long-range missiles, air defence, artillery ammunition and maritime security.
At least £200mn will be spent on providing drones — the largest delivery of unmanned aerial vehicles to Ukraine from any country, including thousands of surveillance, long-range strike and seaborne drones.
Most will be manufactured in the UK, as Britain’s Ministry of Defence works to scale up production with other international partners.
The new security agreement between London and Kyiv builds on a commitment by G7 members last year to offer Ukraine bilateral security assurances.
Sunak — who later on Friday received a standing ovation after addressing Ukraine’s parliament — also announced an extra £18mn in aid, including £8mn to shore up the country’s energy infrastructure. Additional funding will pay for online English tuition for Ukrainians in order to deepen ties between the countries.
