UK plans to purchase military weapons for Ukraine using funds derived from frozen Russian assets
The U.K. has cleverly utilized interest gained from Russia's frozen assets to beef up Ukraine's defenses. For instance, a sum of approximately £70 million was allocated towards procuring 350 state-of-the-art air defense missiles, overhauled by RAF engineers and MBDA UK within a swift three-month period. These missiles, initially designed for air-to-air combat, now sport the capability to be launched from ground-based systems.
Furthermore, an additional five Raven launcher systems will join forces with the missiles, boosting Ukraine's stockpile to a total of 13 Raven air defense systems. Prime Minister Keir Starmer made the official announcement prior to NATO's annual summit, emphasizing, "Russia, not Ukraine, should bear the financial burden for Putin's brutal and unlawful war."
This weapons package is a significant portion of the U.K.'s whopping £4.5 billion annual military commitment to Ukraine, as reported by The Guardian. It follows an earlier £1.6 billion deal in March for over 5,000 air defense missiles and a separate £350 million investment to significantly bolster drone deliveries.
Recently, Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have dedicated themselves to close military production collaboration between the two nations. On June 24, Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that Britain will finance Ukrainian-designed drones produced in the U.K. [1][4][5].
However, European nations are limited in their power to fully confiscate the frozen Russian assets due to concerns about international law and financial security. Consequently, only the generated interest from these funds is being utilized to support a massive $50 billion loan package for Ukraine, while the principal amount of €300 billion remains frozen but not seized. In June, Ukraine received another €1 billion from the EU as part of the G7 loan program backed by frozen Russian assets, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal [1].
[1] theguardian.com[4] theguardian.com[5] reuters.com
In light of the ongoing Ukrainian military support, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, during NATO's annual summit, publicly declared that the generated interest from frozen Russian assets should be employed towards funding Ukraine's defense, rather than Putin's war-and-conflicts expenses. Additionally, the U.K.'s commitment to politics and general-news events extends beyond military aid, as demonstrated by their investment in Ukrainian-designed drones, financed by the British government as part of a collaborative military production initiative.
