By UK pledges extra £1.3bn in military support for Ukraine
£1.3bn in military support will be provided by the UK to Ukrainian forces as they continue to fight against Russia’s invasion.
This marks the highest rate of UK military spending on a conflict since the height of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The £1.3bn, drawn from the UK’s reserves, includes £300m of military kit promised by Boris Johnson earlier this week.
Mr Johnson, US President Joe Biden and leaders from other G7 nations will hold talks with Ukrainian president Mr Zelenskyy on Sunday to discuss the additional support on offer.
The military kit promised by Mr Johnson includes anti-battery radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.
The PM said: “Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine, it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.”
The funding comes on top of earlier commitments worth about £1.5bn, which included £400m in humanitarian aid and loan guarantees for £700m in additional World Bank lending.
In his nightly address on Saturday, Mr Zelenskyy said that the situation in the southern city of Mariupol remained particularly dire.
He said that women, children, and the elderly had been evacuated from a steel plant where they had been sheltering along with a small number of Ukrainian fighters. It is not clear if civilian men have been allowed out.
The next step was to arrange the evacuation of the wounded and medical workers helping them.
Regarding efforts to negotiate the safe passage of the Ukrainian soldiers, he said: “This is extremely difficult, but it is important.
“I’m sure everyone understand the root cause of this complication, as well as where the cause is located.
“But we do not lose hope. We do not stop. Every day we are looking for a diplomatic option that can work out.”
