More than £150 million worth of air defence and artillery has
been delivered to Ukraine in the last two months, as procurement
of hundreds of air defence missiles and thousands of rounds of
artillery to provide to Ukraine ramps up.
At least £700 million of this support is set to be spent this
year on air defence and artillery ammunition including the £150
million already delivered – with other funding going towards
procuring more drones, as well as critical contracts to maintain
and repair UK weapons already provided to Ukraine, allowing
damaged equipment to return to the frontline as quickly as
possible.
With Putin repeatedly targeting Ukraine's cities in recent weeks
with the most intense aerial bombardment since the beginning of
the full-scale invasion in 2022, the UK is joining the US and
European nations in ramping up deliveries of vital air defence.
The UK signed an agreement with Ukraine in May to provide an
additional £2.26 billion worth of military support that will be
repaid using funds raised from immobilised Russian assets, with
more than two-thirds of the money allocated for procurement of
weapons and munitions in just two months.
The deal delivers on this Government's Plan for Change, by
spending more on defence and creating jobs we will keep the
country safe and boost economic growth.
The Defence Secretary will make the announcement at the 29th
meeting of the 50-nation strong Ukraine Defence Contact Group
(UDCG) which he will chair virtually on Monday alongside German
Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius.
Opening the UDCG meeting, Defence Secretary, MP, is expected to
say:
Last week, President Trump announced a new plan for large scale
NATO weapons transfers and committed to getting these “quickly
distributed to the battlefield”.
The UK government backs this policy, and we will play our full
part in its success to bolster Ukraine's immediate fight and to
support our own and wider European security.
Alongside this, the US has started the clock on a 50-day deadline
for Putin to agree to peace or face crippling economic sanctions.
As members of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, we need to step
up in turn with a “50-day drive” to arm Ukraine on the
battlefield and force Putin to the negotiating table.
It comes as the UK also completed delivery of nearly 50,000
military drones to Ukraine in under six months, in addition to
20,000 drones provided in the same period via the UK-Latvia
co-led drone coalition, working closely with British defence
companies to speed up procurement and delivery. The UK has
committed £350 million this year to increase the supply of drones
from 10,000 in 2024 to 100,000 in 2025.
At the meeting, the UK and Germany will announce a new agreement
to partner in providing critical air defence ammunition to
Ukraine. Germany will provide more than 170 million Euros worth
of funding, which the UK will use to rapidly procure air defence
ammunition via the UK-led International Fund for Ukraine for
delivery in the coming months. This supports the aims of the
Integrated Air and Missile Defence Capability Coalition, co-led
by Germany and France.
The UK's military support for Ukraine this year is more than ever
before, with £4.5 billion allocated for this financial year. In
March, the Prime Minister announced a historic £1.6 billion deal
to provide more than five thousand air defence missiles for
Ukraine.
Last month, the Prime Minister announced a landmark agreement
between the UK and Ukraine to share battlefield technology,
boosting Ukraine's drone production and linking up the UK's
defence industry with the cutting-edge technology being developed
on the front lines in Ukraine.
