Vital military gear for Ukraine bought with cash from a £520million international fund has still not been sent to Kyiv - nine months after the scheme was set up.
Just three supply deals have been signed under the British-run International Fund for Ukraine - and none of the equipment has been delivered.
Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey said: “The Prime Minister claims Britain is ‘accelerating support’ of military help but Government is on a go-slow with this weapons fund.
“Nine months on and still no new equipment delivered - I fear ministers are letting momentum behind UK military support flag and risking the UK’s reputation with NATO allies.”
The IFU, which was launched in August, is run by Britain’s Ministry of Defence working with six other countries: Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Lithuania.
The UK injected £250m into what it described as “a mechanism that uses funding from international partners to procure priority military assistance for Ukraine at pace”.
It claimed: “This will ensure the continued supply of military support – lethal and non-lethal – to Ukraine through 2023 and beyond.”
But until two weeks ago, only one deal had been signed to spend money from the pot.
That was despite hundreds of bids being received from firms based in more than 40 countries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded with Western leaders for more military gear before his armed forces’ long-awaited expected counter-offensive against Russian invaders.
Answering a written parliamentary question late last month(APR), Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said: “The first round of procurement funded by the International Fund for Ukraine resulted in 1,567 individual proposals received from suppliers, across 11 capability areas.
“Following an assessment of these proposals, 10 were selected to be taken forward as part of the first IFU-funded capability package.
“To date, one contract has been let, with further contracts expected to be signed shortly.
“The first IFU capabilities will reach Ukrainian forces in the coming weeks.
“For operational security reasons, we are not able to confirm precise delivery timescales.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said today: “The International Fund for Ukraine is using contributions from international partners to procure priority military assistance for Ukraine at speed. So far, more than £520m has been pledged.
“The first round of procurement resulted in hundreds of proposals from suppliers, 10 of which were selected – this process inevitably took time.
“We make no excuses for having made sure this was done properly and in a way that helped Ukraine.
“Three contracts have now been placed to assist Ukraine in critical areas such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare, and we expect further contracts to be signed shortly.”
The Mirror understands the first batch of equipment is due to be delivered in the coming weeks.
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