UK Defense Secretary: Ukraine's fate could be decided in 2024

The future of Ukraine can be decided in 2024, the West must not let it down. This was stated by the head of the British Ministry of Defense Grant Shapps during his speech at Lancaster House in London.

 

“We have brought together around 10 countries to help Ukraine train here in the UK and today I can announce that our programs have trained over 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers since 2014,” added Shapps.

The head of the Ministry of Defense also said that the UK intends to increase military support to Ukraine to 2.5 billion pounds, bringing the total amount of military support and assistance to 7 billion, with even more to be allocated directly from the UK's equipment stockpiles. £200 million will be spent on the production and procurement of thousands of drones, including long-range reconnaissance and attack drones.

“And it continues the UK's proud record as a leading donor, always first to give Ukraine exactly what it needs. The UK was the first to provide weapons training to Ukraine, the first to provide NLAW anti-tank missiles, the first to provide modern tanks, the first to send long-range missiles. Now we will become the largest supplier of drones,” Shapps promised.

On January 12, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and British Prime Minister Sunak signed a security agreement between the two countries in Kiev. Zelensky said that it will remain in force until Ukraine joins  NATO , calling the document an “unprecedented security agreement.” The document, according to the UK government website, includes intelligence sharing, cyber security, medical and military training, and defense industrial cooperation. The agreement was announced at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023, at which G7 countries agreed to provide bilateral security guarantees to Ukraine.