Sunak announces from Poland new military aid for Ukraine

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits Poland on Tuesday where he will announce additional military aid for Ukraine worth 500 million pounds sterling to enable it to resist the Russian invasion, according to London's announcement on Monday evening.

Downing Street said in a statement that Sunak will meet in Warsaw with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and will discuss with them particularly the Ukrainian file and on a broader scale, European security.

After lengthy and arduous negotiations, the US House of Representatives voted on Saturday for a massive aid package for Kyiv worth $61 billion.

A statement from Downing Street quoted Sunak as saying, "Defending Ukraine against Russian monstrous ambitions is vital for our security and Europe as a whole."

British Prime Minister warned that if Putin "prevails in this aggressive war, he will not stop at the Polish border."

A statement from the British Prime Minister's office clarified that Sunak will announce during his visit to Poland a "massive increase" in British support for Ukraine, including additional military aid worth half a billion pounds sterling and "the largest amount of vital equipment we deliver" to Kyiv.

This new contribution from the United Kingdom, essentially one of the major contributors to aid to Ukraine, raises British military support for Kyiv to three billion pounds sterling for the year 2024-2025/2025, according to Downing Street.

This aid will be used "to quickly provide the ammunition" that Ukraine "urgently needs," in addition to drones to be purchased from the United Kingdom, and technical support.

The equipment to be sent by the British Ministry of Defense to Ukraine is supposed to help Kyiv in "resisting the Russian invasion by land, sea, and air."

This aid includes 60 boats and more than 1,600 missiles, including specifically anti-aircraft missiles and Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

The aid also includes nearly four million rounds of small-caliber ammunition. In its statement, Downing Street emphasized that Ukraine "faces an existential threat" as "Russia continues its barbaric invasion, endangering the security and stability of Europe as a whole."\

AFP