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Agence France-Presse

Visiting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday announced £2.5 billion (US$3.2 billion) in new military aid for Ukraine, saying it sent a “strong signal” of UK support for the war-torn nation.
The funding package for the coming year is £200 million higher than the £2.3 billion pledged per year in both 2022 and 2023.
It will ensure the “largest ever commitment of drones”, Sunak’s office said in a statement.
The UK prime minister said the aid was designed “to send a strong signal of support to the Ukrainian people”.
I’m here with one clear message: the United Kingdom stands with Ukraine
Rishi Sunak, UK Prime Minister
Russian President Vladimir Putin “needs to recognise we’re not going anywhere”, he added.
“I’m here with one clear message: the United Kingdom stands with Ukraine,” he said after touring damaged buildings in the Ukrainian capital.
Sunak met emergency service workers responding to the aftermath of Russian air strikes and praised Ukrainians’ “great courage”.
The British leader was set to sign a “historic” security cooperation pact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while in Kyiv, his office said.
Angry wives of Russian soldiers are becoming a thorn in Putin’s side
The “totemic agreement” should be the first step towards an “unshakeable hundred-year partnership”, it added.
At least £200 million of the latest aid package is to be spent on “a major push to rapidly procure and produce thousands of military drones for Ukraine, including surveillance, long-range strike and sea drones”.
Sunak said the aid currently in place was due to run through to the “early part of this year”.
“So we’re acting in advance of that expiring with a new commitment of two and a half billion pounds – more than we’ve provided in previous years,” he told reporters.




“That represents the seriousness of the situation here and our determination to stand with Ukraine,” he added.
The latest commitment takes the UK’s overall support for Ukraine’s war efforts to almost £12 billion.
The equipment already supplied to Kyiv includes Storm Shadow cruise missiles and a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron vowed, during a surprise visit to Kyiv in November, to maintain military support for Ukraine.

Zelensky said at the time that the flow of vital artillery ammunition from Western allies had dropped since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October.
“We will continue to give you the moral support, diplomatic support, the economic support, but above all, the military support, that you need not just this year, and next year, but for however long it takes,” Cameron said during a meeting with Zelensky in November.
A top Ukrainian commander recently described the war as a stalemate, with no clear sign of a breakthrough on the front lines.


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Ukraine war

Ukraine war: UK’s Sunak gives ‘strong signal’ to Kyiv with extra US$3.2 billion in military aid

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged more than US$3 billion in aid to Ukraine amidst a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday. Photo: AP

UK PM Rishi Sunak (left) visited Kyiv to launch “a major new package of support” for Ukraine and increase military funding during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Pool/AP

US failed to track more than US$1 billion in military gear given to Ukraine

Javelin missiles provided by the US to Ukraine in 2022. File photo: AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman with a ‘Stinger’ anti-aircraft weapon in the Black Sea. Photo: AFP

Japanese hit out at ‘completely crazy’ Ukraine aid in deadly Japan earthquake’s aftermath

Firefighters search for missing people as snow blankets parts of the disaster-hit area in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture, a week after a major earthquake struck the Noto region in Ishikawa prefecture on New Year’s Day. Photo: Jiji Press/AFP

Residents of a quake-hit area wait for food distribution at a shelter in Anamizu, Ishikawa prefecture on Sunday. More than 160 Japanese lost their lives in the earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters

Firefighters search for missing people on Monday as snow blankets parts of the disaster-hit area in the city of Suzu on the Noto peninsula, a week after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck the region. Photo: Jiji Press / AFP

Ukraine war: Russia’s ‘low quality, high quantity army’ to lose half a million troops by year’s end, UK intel

Russian troops fire artillery from their position at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in October 2022. Photo: AP

Recruits carry ammunition during military training at a firing range in the Rostov-on-Don region in southern Russia in October 2022. UK intelligence believes that Russia will lose half a million troops by year’s end. Photo: AP

Kyiv posts images of ‘downed’ Russian hypersonic missile; Chechen leader demands return of family

Sappers of the Rapid Response Mobile Rescue Centre of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine neutralising the warhead of a Kinzhal missile in Kyiv on Friday. Photo: Handout / State Emergency Service of Ukraine / AFP / XGTY 

Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Abu Dhabi on December 6. Photo: AFP

Shalanda Young, director of the US Office of Management and Budget. Photo: AP

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About 80 per cent of the latest aid package is to be spent on trying to procure and produce drones for Ukraine
The latest commitment takes the UK’s overall support for Ukraine’s war efforts to roughly US$15.3 billion


About 80 per cent of the latest aid package is to be spent on trying to procure and produce drones for Ukraine.
