British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit Kyiv on January 12, where he will announce a new aid package for Ukraine worth more than $3 billion (£2.5 billion).
About another British military support for Ukraine tells “European Truth”, referring to the press service of the British government. The package will include long-range missiles, air defense systems and artillery shells.
Approximately two hundred million pounds will be spent on drones: reconnaissance, attack and long-range maritime drones. This supply of drones will be the largest among other countries.
In Kyiv, the British Prime Minister will sign a new agreement on bilateral “security guarantees” for Ukraine. He is scheduled to meet with rescue workers responding to Russian airstrikes and is expected to announce £18 billion in humanitarian aid and help to strengthen Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. In addition, the UK will provide money and resources for learning English in Ukraine.
In early January, Vladimir Zelensky had a telephone conversation with Rishi Sunak and thanked Britain “for the significant and diverse contribution” to strengthening Ukraine’s air defense. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a recent interview that he expects no less weapons to be allocated to help Ukraine than in the last two years.
Latvia also announced a new aid package for Ukraine. During the visit of the President of Ukraine to Riga, Ukraine and Latvia agreed on cooperation in the field of defense and security, as well as on technical and financial cooperation. Commenting on the situation at the front, Zelensky emphasized that there are no major advances, since Russia controls the sky:
“The situation at the front is very difficult, we do not have enough weapons. And if the Russians did not control the air, and we had a sufficient number of air defense systems, we would destroy their aircraft. We tried it and it works. When you destroy them in sky, you are moving forward. There are no big steps forward in Ukraine because they control the sky.”
The latest package of military assistance from Latvia includes howitzers, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft systems, writes Euronews. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said that three thousand Ukrainian military personnel will undergo training in the country this year. He said that Latvia is leading a “coalition of drones” as part of international assistance to Ukraine. Vladimir Zelensky noted:
“Every small step against Ukraine’s membership in NATO shows someone’s fear of Russia. This cannot be done, and it will be a big mistake, because the ambitions of the Russian president will increase.”
The search for additional aid is becoming increasingly urgent for Kiev, as the US has effectively suspended its program due to negotiations in the Senate: on Thursday, the White House said that negotiations in the government had “stalled”, and the US issued the latest package of military aid to Ukraine. for which funding was provided.
Against this background, a report from the US Department of Defense Inspector General was published, which talks about the problem with 2% of weapons transferred to Ukraine since 2014. In response, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said:
“There is no credible evidence that the advanced conventional weapons that the United States transferred to Ukraine fell into the wrong hands.”
Earlier, during Zelensky’s visit to Estonia, the country’s President Alar Karis said that there should be no restrictions on the provision of weapons to Ukraine and the capabilities of the European military industry should be increased:
“While providing our support, we cannot prevent the destruction of objects on Russian territory in order to slow down the advance of Russian troops.”
In response, Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president who holds the position of deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council, again threatened to use nuclear weapons.
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