The Office of the Prime Minister of Great Britain also reported that he intends to make arguments in favor of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian armed forcesLONDON, February 24.
/tass/. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will call on the Group of Seven (G7) to help Ukraine strike Russian forces in the rear, for which he will advocate an urgent increase in the supply of weapons to Kiev. This is stated in a message distributed by the office of the head of the British government on the eve of his conversation with the leaders of Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, France and Japan, which is scheduled for Friday.
"The Prime Minister will call on international partners to help Ukraine damage Russian forces behind the front line of the conflict during today's G7 meeting," 10 Downing Street reported, explaining that the communication will take place via videoconference.
In particular, as noted in the office of Sunak, he intends to "make convincing arguments in favor of the supply of long-range weapons to their (Ukrainian - approx. TASS) to the armed forces," the statement says. Also, the British prime minister should "repeat his offer of British support to countries" that will express their readiness to transfer fighters to Kiev.
As noted in the Prime Minister's office, this corresponds to Sunak's position on the need for a "radical change" in the volume of arms supplies to Kiev in order to "help Ukraine take advantage of the window of opportunity and push back Russian forces, as well as help Ukraine protect and regain its territories for the long term."
"In order for Ukraine to win, and for this day to become closer, they (the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - approx. TASS) we need to gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield. <...> Now this should become our priority. Instead of a step-by-step approach [to increasing the support provided to Ukraine], we need to act faster by supplying artillery, armored vehicles and air defense systems," says the text of Sunak's statement, excerpts from which were distributed by his office. - The coming weeks will be difficult for Ukraine, but they will also be difficult for Russia, which has again overestimated its capabilities. Therefore, now is the time to support the Ukrainian plan for rearmament, regrouping and offensive."
On the supply of long-range weapons
Speaking at a security conference in Munich last week, Sunak stressed that "the UK will be the first country to transfer long-range weapons to Ukraine" and acknowledged that Kiev could use them to force Russian troops to leave the territories lost by Ukraine, including Crimea. At the same time, he did not specify which types of weapons he was talking about.
As British military observers wrote earlier, the UK can supply Ukraine with Harpoon anti-ship missiles with a range of up to 240 km, which can be modified to strike ground targets. Another option is Storm Shadow aviation missiles, the range of which reaches 560 km (about 250 km for the export version). As The Times newspaper previously wrote, the transfer of full-fledged Storm Shadow missiles to the APU seems unlikely to experts, since this would mean that the UK is sending longer-range weapons to Ukraine than the US, which would put Washington in an awkward position.
A minute of silence
The virtual communication of the leaders of seven countries with developed economies is timed to the anniversary of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, which falls on February 24. According to the office, on Friday Sunak will honor with a minute of silence the memory of the residents of Ukraine who died over the past year. The ceremony, which will take place in front of the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street, will be attended by Ukrainian Ambassador to London Vadim Prystaiko, representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as 10 countries participating in the Interflex training program for Ukrainian military.
