Britain to provide Ukraine with 5,000 air defense missiles, says Starmer

£1.6 billion will be spent on these needs.

The UK will provide Ukraine with a new package of military aid worth a total of £1.6 billion. The money will finance the production of 5,000 air defense missiles , British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, as quoted by The Guardian .

Thus, Starmer said that in addition to the £2.2 billion loan announced yesterday, Britain was providing a further £1.6 billion in export finance to Ukraine. With this money, Kyiv could “buy more than 5,000 air defence missiles”. The missiles will be manufactured in Belfast, Britain.

“This will be vital to protect critical infrastructure now and to strengthen Ukraine to deliver peace when it comes, because we must learn from the mistakes of the past. We cannot accept a weak agreement like Minsk that Russia can easily break,” Starmer said.

The British leader is convinced that giving Ukraine “the strongest possible position” will allow it to negotiate with Russia from a position of strength, so “we are doubling our support.”

European leaders also agreed to increase economic pressure on Russia and they would insist that Ukraine be at the table of any peace talks, the British leader said.

At the same time, London intends to assemble a “coalition of the willing” that will ensure the implementation of any peace agreement. Britain intends to take the leading role in this coalition.

“We will build a coalition of those willing to defend the agreement in Ukraine and guarantee peace. (…) The United Kingdom stands ready to support this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, along with others,” he said.

Starmer said “several countries” were willing to join the coalition of the willing, but they would have to announce their intentions themselves.

(C)UNIAN 2025