Moscow/Kyiv, Nov 29 (FN Bureau) The United Kingdom will soon announce its plans for military support of Ukraine in 2024, with the discussions on the topic being finalized both within the cabinet and with London’s allies, UK Minister of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey said on Tuesday. “Our support for the next year is being finalized both internally within the government and with our partners around the world and will be announced shortly,” Heappey said during a parliamentary session broadcast on the official website. At the same time, he noted that priority should be given first to understanding “what the Ukrainians want to do next” and then to delivering those capabilities and “emboldening” other states to follow.
In total, the UK has committed 4.6 billion pounds of military support to Ukraine so far, the UK official said, adding that London kept donating “significant amounts of ammunition and materials” from its own stocks as well as “the various purchased from across the globe.” Western countries have been providing military aid to Kiev since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.