- UK providing £60 million to NATO Comprehensive Assistance
Package, bringing UK contribution to more than £80 million
- NATO Ministers agree new UK-based Maritime Centre to support
the security of undersea infrastructure
- Defence Secretary is in Brussels with NATO
counterparts where the expansion of the ammunition warehousing
project was agreed
An additional £60 million of funding from the UK to NATO’s
Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) has been announced by
the Defence Secretary, bringing the UK’s total contribution to
over £80 million since February last year.
The CAP is the way that NATO’s support to Ukraine has been
organised since 2016, and the funding supports a wide range of
capacity-building programmes that are focused on key areas
including cyber and logistics.
The package provides secure communications; combat rations, fuel,
medical supplies; body armour; winter clothing and equipment to
counter mines and chemical and biological threats. The UK
and NATO allies continue to deliver on a shared and unwavering
commitment to support Ukraine.
Defence Secretary said:
The international community is working together to secure a
stable Europe including our critical infrastructure, and to
support Ukraine.
This new contribution for NATO’s Ukraine fund is part of our
ongoing commitment to provide Ukraine with the equipment and
training it needs.
The funding from the UK is in addition to the extensive and
ongoing bilateral support that the UK is providing Ukraine, and
initiatives such as the International Fund for
Ukraine (IFU). Earlier this week, the UK announced two
significant air defence support packages with allies and
partners.
The £60 million contribution to the CAP was announced by the
Defence Secretary at a meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in
Brussels. The meeting of the 31 NATO members focused on European
security and stability, and Ministers agreed to establish a new
Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea
Infrastructure at NATO Maritime Command in the UK. This new
centre is part of a long term plan for the alliance to better
secure critical undersea infrastructure.
The centre will result in better coordination between allies and
with industry to share expertise, creating a NATO-wide picture of
the threat and best way to tackle the challenges
including best practice and innovative technologies,
such as the UK’s two Multi-Role Ocean
Surveillance (MROS) ships – the first of which, HMS Proteus,
is due to sail shortly.
The meeting also saw Multinational
Ammunition Warehousing Initiative(MAWI) partners (Belgium,
Canada, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK) welcome four new nations
to the project - Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg.
MAWI is a NATO project that was established in 2021 to enable
partners to explore opportunities for common stockpiling
solutions, facilitate information sharing and develop minimum
standards for ammunition warehouses. This will strengthen
cooperation across allies in managing the storage of munitions
and should result in lower costs and increase the availability of
weapons.
The project will see a network of munition storage facilities
that can host munitions in support of NATO’s multinational battle
groups, including the UK-led group in Estonia.
During the NATO meeting, the Defence Secretary also reiterated
the UK’s support to Sweden’s accession to the alliance, and held
meetings with his counterparts from Türkiye, Canada, Greece, and
Italy. He also met with Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General
Cavoli, and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General
Radford.
Before the meeting began on Thursday, the Defence Secretary and
Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, attended
the 13th Ukraine Defence Contact Group where the delivery of
hundreds more air defence
missiles was announced, following an agreement between
Denmark, the Netherlands, the US and the UK.
The international community is committed to providing ongoing
support to Ukraine - including equipment and training.
