UK government to send over $50M in aid to Ukraine

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON (AA) - The British government on Sunday announced an increase in aid to the government and people of Ukraine as they battled a Russian invasion for the fourth consecutive day.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a further increase of over $50 million in aid to Kyiv which will see the provision of much needed medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and clinics across the country.

“In the last days, the world has witnessed awe-inspiring displays of bravery and heroism from the Ukrainian people in response to those who seek to obliterate their freedom by force,” Johnson said in a statement.

“The UK will not turn our backs in Ukraine’s hour of need. We are providing all the economic and military support we can to help those Ukrainians risking everything to protect their country,” he added.

The support package will help aid agencies respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine and will allow its people access to basic amenities and medical supplies including medicines and wound care packs.

The increase in aid will also see the government provide Ukraine with much needed military supplies, the details of which are as of yet unknown.

The latest aid package brings the total pledge to Ukraine to just over $180 million.

On Thursday, a virtual donor conference hosted by Defense Secretary Ben Wallace along with 25 other countries including the US, Canada and other non-NATO allies pledged an increase in military support to Kyiv in its struggle against Moscow’s invasion.

Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s regime has undertaken an illegal and violent assault against the people of Ukraine. The UK will provide £40 million ($53 million) in aid to help our Ukrainian friends, more funding to tackle what is becoming a humanitarian crisis,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

“We stand with Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder, in its hour of need,” she added.

-Nuclear deterrent a distraction from reality

Johnson also cast doubt on whether Putin wanted to negotiate a peace settlement with Ukraine, using his continued military offensive throughout the country as an example of his intent to subdue the country militarily.

The prime minister added that Putin’s nuclear threat is a “distraction” from reality on the situation in Ukraine and accused Russia’s state-owned broadcaster RT of spreading misinformation.

"There's nothing I've seen so far in his behavior that leads me to think that he could possibly be sincere,” Johnson said, criticizing RT for “peddling material that is doing a lot of damage to the truth.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its fourth day after Moscow launched an attack on Kyiv last Thursday.

The invasion was met by an outcry from the international community with the European Union, UK and the US implementing a range of economic sanctions against the Kremlin.

Russia has been further isolated as its airlines have been banned from travelling in European airspace and a number of its banks have been kicked out of the SWIFT international banking system.