The government has announced a further £450m of military support to Kyiv, as the UK and Germany prepare to host a meeting of 50 nations in Brussels.Defence officials are convening to "pile pressure" on Russian President Vladimir Putin and force him to end his invasion of Ukraine, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.We must step up to deter Russian aggression by continuing to bolster Ukraine's defences.The package includes funding for hundreds of thousands of drones, anti-tanks mines and and repairs to military vehicles.About £350m will be provided by the UK, with extra funding from Norway via the UK-led International Fund for Ukraine.The package includes £160m to provide repairs and maintenance to vehicles and equipment the UK has already provided to Ukraine.
A "close fight" military aid package, with funding for radar systems, anti-tank mines and hundreds of thousands of drones, worth more than £250m is also part of the package, the government said.The Lib Dems said the support package announced on Friday was "small change" and called for the government to seize Russian assets in Britain to give Ukraine more funding.While we welcome any increase in support for Ukraine, this package is small change compared to what's needed to combat Putin's barbaric war.Healey and his German counterpart, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, are co-chairing Friday's meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which had traditionally been hosted by the US defence secretary until Donald Trump became president in January.
Since then, in a sign of the US stepping back from European security matters, Healey has taken over as chair.
The meeting follows a similar gathering of defence ministers from 30 countries in the Franco-British-led "coalition of the willing", who met in Brussels to discuss installing a force in Ukraine to ensure enduring peace.Healey said he did not envisage "a reassurance force" that will "separate the currently warring sides down the line of contact", according to AFP news agency, but added that bolstering Ukraine's armies would be a key part of the plan.Trump once said he would end the war in Ukraine in less than 24 hours - but so far, his attempts to bring the conflict to a close have only produced limited success.In March, Putin rejected Trump's call for an immediate and full month-long ceasefire - which Kyiv had agreed to - instead saying only that it would halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
As progress in the diplomatic sphere stalls, fighting on the front line continues between Ukrainian and Russian troops.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly acknowledged for the first time that his troops are active in Russia's Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine.Ukrainian troops have also been fighting in Russia's Kursk region - though Russia has since retaken most of the territory.On Thursday night Russia attacked Ukraine with waves of drones, with strikes injuring at least four people in the Kharkiv region, according to the regional governor. Drones coming from Ukraine were also intercepted in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, according to Russian state media.
Madina Mammadova\\EDnews
