UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Kyiv on Friday to announce an increase in military funding as the country strives to help Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mount his long-anticipated spring offensive against Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. The British government said it would increase its support for Ukraine in the next financial year to 2.5 billion pounds ($3.19 billion), an increase of 200 million pounds from the previous two years. This includes a new weapons package that will include surveillance, long-range strikes, and sea drones, which Zelenskyy has complained Ukraine needs more of to defend itself from Russian air attacks.
This week, Ukraine began deploying hundreds of missiles and attack aircraft at the frontline. Military analysts say that Kyiv could soon make a decisive move into land that Moscow has seized since its full-scale invasion last year. The UK has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, and Zelenskyy visited London shortly after entering the top job last year, seeking more help to fight off the war.
Britain, preparing to leave the European Union, will also push allies at the Group of Seven summit in Japan later this week to deliver more military support. The government has banned the export of every item Russia has used on the battlefield so far, a list covering hundreds of items. It is also imposing sanctions on senior executives at Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom, who it says are complicit in the seizure and forced nationality change of the staff of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
The UK’s new assistance follows similar pledges of support from the United States and other NATO members, including the delivery last month of Storm Shadow cruise missiles that have a range of over 250 kilometers (150 miles). Washington has been boosting its support for Ukraine with weapons packages in recent weeks. Its latest announcement of $2.1 billion in assistance will include munitions for the Patriot and HAWK air-defense systems that Ukraine relies on to fight off Russian attack helicopters, artillery, and tanks.
Zelenskyy has vowed to use the new weaponry to launch a broad campaign against rebels, who have been boosted by Russia’s invasion and its military presence in the eastern parts of the country. He has reshuffled the governors of battleground provinces, dismissing some and hiring others in a shake-up that he says shows he is willing to take strict measures to win the war.
Moscow has condemned the new weapons package as a “blatant provocation” and said it would mean recognizing new territorial realities, such as Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its continuing occupation of four other Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. The Kremlin has called for more talks on the conflict, and a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin is scheduled for next month. During a visit to Tokyo on Wednesday, the foreign ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said that Russia is open to talks only if they involve resolving the conflict by “political and diplomatic means.” The two countries will also discuss the situation in North Korea.
