British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged that the UK will be the first country to supply Ukraine with “longer-range weapons” for use in its conflict with Russia.
Rishi Sunak stated at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that the West must “help Ukraine shield its cities from Russian bombs and Iranian drones, which is why the United Kingdom will be the first country to provide Ukraine with longer-range weapons.”
The British prime minister went on to say that his government is collaborating with NATO allies to “give Ukraine the most advanced air defence systems and build the air force they need to defend their nation.”
“[The UK] is ready to assist any country in providing Ukraine with the planes it requires today, but we must also train Ukrainian pilots to use advanced jets,” he said.
This escalation comes at a critical juncture for Ukraine’s Western backers, with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern that Communist China is considering moving beyond “rhetorical, political, and diplomatic support to Russia” to “lethal support to Russia,” a move that would have “serious consequences” for Sino-American relations.
Following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to London earlier this month, Downing Street stated that the country was actively considering sending fighter jets and long-range missiles.
The 150-mile-range Harpoon high-explosive anti-ship missile and the 350-mile-range deep penetration Storm Shadow cruise missile are reportedly under consideration as long-range missiles. According to Ukrainian defence sources who spoke to The Times of London, Kiev would use such weapons to escalate the current conflict by launching an attack on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The British government has sent nearly £4 billion in aid to Ukraine in the last year, with £2.3 billion of that coming in the form of weapons, ammunition, or other military equipment.