Sir Keir Starmer has announced a £1.6bn missile deal for Ukraine following a summit of European leaders in London, reinforcing the UK’s commitment to supporting the country’s defence efforts.
At the Lancaster House summit, attended by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, 17 European leaders, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, discussions focused on securing peace for Ukraine.
Starmer also revealed that “a number” of allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, had joined a “coalition of the willing,” ready to deploy troops to Ukraine’s frontline if a peace agreement is reached.
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This latest commitment builds on an agreement made in January between the UK and Ukraine, which guarantees £3bn annually in export finance to help Ukraine acquire military equipment from British companies.
The summit follows a televised White House press conference in which President Trump told Zelensky he was not showing enough gratitude for US support.
UK National Armaments Director Andy Start described the new missile deal as a “critical next step” for the task force.
He stated: “The UK’s defence industry has supported Ukraine from the start of the war and this important contract underlines industry’s ability to scale up production at pace to deliver the world-class defence equipment Ukraine requires.
“The substantial increase in LMM production capacity will benefit both Ukraine’s fight tonight, as well as the longer-term security of the UK”, he concluded.
(BBC)
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