Scotland is giving £65 million to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia as part of a £1 billion military package being pledged by the United Kingdom.
The massive contribution, announced by Boris Johnson at the Nato summit in Madrid, almost doubles the UK’s support of Ukraine’s war effort
The new funding takes the military aid given to Kyiv to £2.3 billion and the UK has also spent £1.5 billion in humanitarian and economic support for Ukraine.
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Boris Johnson said British spending was “transforming Ukraine’s defences” with the aid going towards paying for “sophisticated air defence systems, drones, electronic warfare equipment, anti-tank rockets and replenishing supplies the UK government said.
With Defence and Foreign affairs reserved to Westminster, it is highly unusual for devolved governments to contribute to UK government spending in this way.
The Scottish government contribution, along with another £30 million from the Welsh government, is being scraped back from underspends across UK departments to make up the £1 billion.
Kate Forbes, the Scottish Finance Secretary, said the exceptional circumstances in Ukraine meant that the Holyrood government was willing to see the funding go through.
She said: “We have agreed to providing funding on this occasion given the clear need to maximise the international effort to support Ukraine.
“However, we are clear that this must not be seen as any kind of precedent which leads to devolved budgets being used to help pay for clearly reserved policy areas.”
Forbes added: “Scotland stands for democracy, human rights and the rule of law at home and abroad."
“This further funding is to assist Ukrainian armed forces to fight Russian aggression and the unspeakable brutality being perpetrated.”
“We have become a place of refuge and sanctuary for displaced people from Ukraine, and have done all we can to get help those fleeing the country to escape the violence."
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