The UK will sell warships and missiles to Ukraine after the kingdom's Defense Minister Ben Wallace signs a new agreement with Kiev amid rising tensions with Russia. On Wednesday, November 17, The Telegraph newspaper reports.
The agreement will allow Ukraine to receive loans from the UK to purchase British warships and missiles.
The deal will include the purchase of two mine-fighting ships similar to HMS Brocklesby of the British Royal Navy, the joint production of eight missile ships, as well as the supply and modernization of weapons systems on ships already included in the Ukrainian Navy.
In addition, it is planned to jointly produce a frigate and provide technical support to Ukraine for the construction of naval infrastructure.
At the same time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, speaking in parliament on Wednesday, said that Ukraine, for historical reasons, does not have a security guarantee from NATO powers, since it is not part of the North Atlantic Alliance. Therefore, the head of the British cabinet stressed, "we must make sure that everyone understands that the price of miscalculation on the borders of both Ukraine and Poland will be huge."
Earlier in the day, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the agreement between the UK and Ukraine on a loan for military purposes was another proof of the build-up of British military activity near the borders of Russia.
At the same time, on November 16, Ben Wallace and his Ukrainian counterpart Alexey Reznikov noted that the UK and Ukraine do not want to be at enmity with Russia, but at the same time the countries are concerned about its military activity on the Ukrainian border.
On November 14, the Ukrainian portal "Mirror of the Week" reported that London had allocated £1.7 billion to Kiev for the development of the fleet. According to the publication, this money will be allocated for a loan, which Kiev must repay by 2031. Ukraine, as the portal noted, will spend part of these funds on the construction of new ships and naval bases.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in turn, noted on November 17 that Kiev was covering up its actions to undermine the Minsk agreements by escalating "horror stories" about the Russian threat. In addition, he pointed out that the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, is not against provoking incidents in the Donbass, hoping for the help of the West.
