UK signs ‘historic’ security deal with Ukraine and pledges billions more in arms

Ukraine and the UK have signed what both called a “historic” agreement on security co-operation as British prime minister Rishi Sunak visited Kyiv and announced plans to provide another £2.5 billion (€2.9bn) in military aid to the embattled country.

The deal “formalises a range of support the UK has been and will continue to provide for Ukraine’s security, including intelligence-sharing, cyber security, medical and military training, and defence industrial co-operation”, Mr Sunak’s office said on Friday.

“It also commits the UK to consult with Ukraine in the event it is ever attacked by Russia again, and to provide ‘swift and sustained’ assistance for their defence,” it added

The £2.5 billion, spread over 2024 and 2025, will include money for “long-range missiles, air defence, artillery ammunition and maritime security”, and help “fund a major push to rapidly procure and produce thousands of military drones for Ukraine, including surveillance, long-range strike and sea drones”, Downing Street said.

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The announcement was a boost to Ukraine as political disputes in the US Congress and European Union stymie plans to send tens of billions of dollars and euro in aid to Kyiv.

“I am here today with one message: the UK will...not falter. We will stand with Ukraine, in their darkest hours and in the better times to come,” Mr Sunak said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the agreement as a “watershed moment in European history”, and said that “if the UK and other countries had provided such a level of guarantees after 1991 there would have been no Russian aggression at all”.

There was no suggestion that the deal provides for British troops to defend Ukraine, but former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev warned: “I hope that our eternal enemies, the arrogant British, understand that deployment of their official military contingent in Ukraine will mean a declaration of war on our country.”

Ukraine wants security guarantees from countries including the United States, China and European powers as part of a peace plan drawn up by Mr Zelenskiy which will be discussed again on Sunday when more than 100 national security advisers meet in the Swiss resort of Davos before its World Economic Forum.

Russia rejects Kyiv’s plan and says no settlement can be reached unless Ukraine accepts the occupation of swathes of its territory.

The front line in eastern Ukraine has barely moved in more than six months as each side struggles to make headway against the opposition’s defensive positions, vast minefields and swarms of drones that are quick to spot and strike any military movement.

“It’s critical that Congress move on that national security supplemental request and we get more funding,” US national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday. “The assistance that we provided [to Ukraine] has now ground to a halt. The attacks that the Russians are conducting are only increasing. And now…they’re using North Korean ballistic missiles to do their dirty work.”

The US imposed sanctions on Thursday against three Russian organisations and one official that are allegedly involved in Moscow’s acquisition and use of North Korea missiles.

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