London, March 7 (Agency) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday an extra 175 million pounds ($230 million) in aid for Ukraine and called on “Ukraine’s friends” around the world to create a coalition of humanitarian, economic and defensive military support to ensure that Russia’s military operation “fails.” “I am announcing a further £175 million of UK aid to Ukraine, £100 million of which will be provided directly to the Ukrainian government,” Johnson told a press briefing alongside his Canadian and Dutch counterparts, Justin Trudeau and Mark Rutte.
He said the new funds would take the UK’s total aid to Ukraine to 400 million pounds. On February 24, Russia began a special operation to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the Donbas republics in countering the aggression of Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.