Blitz Bureau
The UK has announced a £2.26 billion loan to help Ukraine fight Russia. The money is the UK’s contribution to a $50 billion dollar loan package agreed by the G7 group of nations financed through the interest on sanctioned Russian sovereign assets.
The money could be used to fund air defence, artillery or other military equipment and comes on top of the UK’s existing £3 billion-a-year support for Ukraine.
Describing it as “turning the proceeds of Putin’s own corrupt regime against him, by putting it into the hands of Ukraine”, Defence Secretary John Healey said the new money will help Ukraine bolster its frontline military equipment.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Our support for Ukraine and her men and women in their fight for freedom from Putin’s aggression is unwavering and will remain so for as long as it takes.
“This new money is in Britain’s national interest because the front line of our defence – the defence of our democracy and shared values – is in the Ukrainian trenches. A safe and secure Ukraine is a safe and secure United Kingdom.”
The G7 – the UK, US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy, along with the EU – agreed in June to the loan, using the interest from Russian state funds frozen as a result of sanctions. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the aim was to release the money as quickly as possible.
