Britain is supplying Ukraine with 650 air defence missiles, the Ministry of Defence in London announced ahead of a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at the US Ramstein air base in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Defence Secretary John Healey will unveil the £162 million (€192 million) air defence package at the meeting, a statement said on Thursday evening. It will be funded mainly from Britain’s annual £3 billion (€3.5 billion) aid to Ukraine.
“This new commitment will provide a significant boost to Ukraine’s air defence and demonstrate our new government’s determination to increase support for Ukraine,” the Labour politician said in the statement.
The so-called Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs) are manufactured by Belfast arms company Thales and can be fired from land, sea and air. With a range of six kilometres and supersonic speeds (Mach 1.5), they can be used to counter a wide range of threats, including drones, armoured vehicles and smaller ships, according to London.
Austria is an observer of the contact group
According to “Spiegel”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is also expected to attend the meeting in Ramstein, which was attended by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The contact group includes about 50 countries, including Germany. Austria is an observer of the group that coordinates arms supplies to Ukraine.
As with previous discussions at the Kaiserslautern base, non-NATO states were also invited. This is the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, although most of the discussions took place via video conference.
Russia has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine since February 24, 2022. The West supports Kiev’s defense with, among other things, large-scale arms supplies.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
