European allies have announced a “surge” of military support for Ukraine, with the British government unveiling £450m ($580m) in UK-led aid. The support is partly aimed at strengthening the country’s position ahead of any peace deal with Russia. The UK will provide £350m this year, with Norway contributing further funding, Britain’s ministry of defence said on Friday. The funding will provide repairs and maintenance to vehicles and equipment as well as radar systems, anti-tank mines and hundreds of thousands of drones.
The UK and Germany are host a meeting of 50 nations at Nato’s headquarters in Brussels on Friday. British defence secretary John Healey and his German counterpart, defence minister Boris Pistorius, will co-chair the 27th Ukraine Defence Contact Group, a role previously performed by the US defence secretary until Donald Trump’s return to office.
Defence secretary Healey on Thursday pressed his counterparts from about 30 countries to forge ahead with plans to deploy troops to Ukraine under any future peace agreement with Russia. Having foreign troops on Ukrainian soil is a sticking point in talks with Russia. The UK is considering deploying troops to Ukraine for five years under plans being discussed by allies, the Telegraph reports, citing unnamed sources. Under the plan, one of a number of options on the table, a European-led force would be sent to Ukraine to initially deter Russia from breaching any settlement and to offer Kyiv’s troops some much-needed respite, the report added.
Prince Harry has visited amputees and wounded military personnel at an orthopaedic clinic in Ukraine, after spending two days at the high court in London appealing against the government’s decision to strip him of his security protection while he is in the UK. The prince met wounded veterans at the Superhumans Centre in Lviv, which treats and rehabilitates injured military personnel and civilians, including children, affected by the war. Harry, who served 10 years in the British army, was accompanied by a contingent from the Invictus Games Foundation, including four veterans who have been through similar rehabilitation experiences.
