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Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
UK makes huge move to support Ukraine military and Russian money will fund it
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Britain will help bolster Ukraine's air defences by using £70million of seized Russian assets ahead of a crucial NATO summit in The Hague The UK will shore up Ukraine's air defence with hundreds of missiles paid for using £70million from seized Russian assets. The ASRAAM (Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles) missiles have been adapted by RAF engineers so they can be fired from the back of military trucks. Keir Starmer announced yesterday that Kyiv would be given a new package of 350 missiles, which can be fired using UK-provided air defence launchers. It comes as the Prime Minister arrived in The Hague for a critical NATO summit on Tuesday, where the crisis in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine will top the agenda. Mr Starmer said: " Russia, not Ukraine, should pay the price for Putin's barbaric and illegal war, so it is only right we use the proceeds from seized Russian assets to ensure Ukraine has the air defence it needs. "The security of Ukraine is vital to the security of the UK and the Euro-Atlantic area, and our support will never waiver. "My message to President Putin is clear: Russia needs to stop its indiscriminate attacks on innocent Ukrainian people and return to the negotiating table.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is attending the NATO summit on Wednesday to push for guarantees of further Western aid against Russia. Multiple civilian sites hit Russian air attacks killed at least 24 civilians and injured more than 200 others in Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday. A Russian ballistic missile attack on Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites in the central Ukrainian city around midday, killing 17 people and injuring more than 200 others. And in the nearby town of Samar, an attack killed two people and injured 14, Dnipro's regional administration head Serhii Lysak said. The barrage damaged 19 schools, 10 kindergartens, a vocational school, a music school and a social welfare office, as well as eight medical facilities, according to Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov. Schools in the reigion are currently closed for the summer holidays. One of the blasts blew out the windows of a passenger train carrying about 500 people, and Mr Filatov declared Wednesday to be an official day of mourning. In a post on Telegram, Zelensky said Russia needs foreign components to build its ballistic missiles - and urged countries to crack down on Moscow's 'schemes' to obtain them. He said: 'Sanctions against Russia must also be significantly strengthened.' Vladimir Putin's forces also shelled residential neighbourhoods and critical infrastructure across Ukraine's southern Kherson region, killing four civilians and wounding at least 11 others, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration. According to the most recent UN estimates in February, more than 12,654 civilians have been killed and over 29,392 injured since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Ukraine has also lost between 60,000 and 100,000 serving military personnel.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Defence secretary warns this is 'the critical year' for Ukraine - as £450m in funding allocated
The defence secretary has said that 2025 is "the critical year" for Ukraine as he confirmed £450m in funding for a military support package. The funding includes £350m from this year's previously announced pot of £4.5bn in financial support, while the rest of the cash is being provided by Norway via the UK-led International Fund for Ukraine. The money will fund repairs to and maintenance of UK-provided materials and equipment already given to Ukraine, as well as radar systems, anti-tank mines and hundreds of thousands of drones. Follow the latest on the war in Ukraine here It was announced on Friday by Defence Secretary John Healey, who is in Brussels chairing a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group alongside his German counterpart Boris Pistorius. The group is an alliance of about 50 countries - all 32 NATO member states, including the US, and about 20 other nations - that has been supporting Ukraine by sending military equipment there since April 2022, a few weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Speaking at the start of the meeting of 50 nations supporting Ukraine against Russia's invasion, Mr Healey warned: "2025 is the critical year for the war in Ukraine, and this is the critical moment. "A moment for our defence industries to step up, and they are; a moment for our militaries to step up, and they are; a moment for our governments to step up, and they are. "Together, we are sending a signal to Russia and we are saying to Ukraine that we stand with you in the fight and we will stand with you in the peace." 'Coalition of the willing' planning continues The meeting comes one day after the UK defence secretary and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu led 30 defence ministers from the "coalition of the willing" in Brussels. The group, which does not include the US, discussed operational plans on Thursday afternoon for a multinational peacekeeping force in Ukraine. It looked at each nation's capabilities and how they could be best used to support Ukraine's long-term defence and security as part of what the Ministry of Defence called a "reassurance force". UK and French military chiefs discussed planning with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military chiefs in Kyiv last weekend. Peace negotiations are ongoing between the US and Russia, however, US officials appear to be growing increasingly impatient with the lack of progress after Donald Trump publicly suggested a month ago that Vladimir Putin wants to end the war. Last Tuesday, the Kremlin described the latest US peace proposal as unacceptable in its current form because it does not solve the "root causes" of the conflict. Read more:Two Chinese citizens 'fighting for Russia' captured in Ukraine Mr Putin wants to dismantle Ukraine as an independent, functioning state and has demanded Kyiv recognise Moscow's annexation of Crimea and other partly occupied areas and pull its forces out, as well as a pledge for Ukraine to never join NATO and to demilitarise. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Friday that Mr Trump is not "going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations" with Moscow. Despite the apparent impasse in talks, the coalition of the willing is continuing with its plans for when peace is agreed.
Sky News
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Defence secretary warns this is 'the critical year' for Ukraine - as £450m in funding allocated
The defence secretary has said that 2025 is "the critical year" for Ukraine as he confirmed £450m in funding for a military support package. The funding includes £350m from this year's previously announced pot of £4.5bn in financial support, while the rest of the cash is being provided by Norway via the UK-led International Fund for Ukraine. The money will fund repairs to and maintenance of UK-provided materials and equipment already given to Ukraine, as well as radar systems, anti-tank mines and hundreds of thousands of drones. It was announced on Friday by Defence Secretary John Healey, who is in Brussels chairing a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group alongside his German counterpart Boris Pistorius. The group is an alliance of about 50 countries - all 32 NATO member states, including the US, and about 20 other nations - that has been supporting Ukraine by sending military equipment there since April 2022, a few weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Speaking at the start of the meeting of 50 nations supporting Ukraine against Russia's invasion, Mr Healey warned: "2025 is the critical year for the war in Ukraine, and this is the critical moment. "A moment for our defence industries to step up, and they are; a moment for our militaries to step up, and they are; a moment for our governments to step up, and they are. "Together, we are sending a signal to Russia and we are saying to Ukraine that we stand with you in the fight and we will stand with you in the peace." 2:07 'Coalition of the willing' planning continues The meeting comes one day after the UK defence secretary and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu led 30 defence ministers from the "coalition of the willing" in Brussels. The group, which does not include the US, discussed operational plans on Thursday afternoon for a multinational peacekeeping force in Ukraine. It looked at each nation's capabilities and how they could be best used to support Ukraine's long-term defence and security as part of what the Ministry of Defence called a "reassurance force". UK and French military chiefs discussed planning with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military chiefs in Kyiv last weekend. Peace negotiations are ongoing between the US and Russia, however, US officials appear to be growing increasingly impatient with the lack of progress after Donald Trump publicly suggested a month ago that Vladimir Putin wants to end the war. 0:44 Last Tuesday, the Kremlin described the latest US peace proposal as unacceptable in its current form because it does not solve the "root causes" of the conflict. Mr Putin wants to dismantle Ukraine as an independent, functioning state and has demanded Kyiv recognise Moscow's annexation of Crimea and other partly occupied areas and pull its forces out, as well as a pledge for Ukraine to never join NATO and to demilitarise. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Friday that Mr Trump is not "going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations" with Moscow. Despite the apparent impasse in talks, the coalition of the willing is continuing with its plans for when peace is agreed.
