Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy net with senior executives from various British defence firms such as British Aerospace (BAe) and Babcock. The Ukrainian President discussed the need to increase military support for his country as it fights Russia.
Zelenskyy was in Britain for a summit of the European Political Community (EPC) and the meeting in London also included representatives from other major defence firms such as Thales, MBDA and KBR as well as British Defence Minister John Healey and Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds.
“Meeting with industry leaders today, I emphasised the Government will continue to work in partnership with industry and the need to boost industrial production of vital military kit for both Ukraine and our own Armed Forces,” Healey said in a statement.
Babcock will extend its contract with the British defence ministry by six months to provide maintenance and repair of military vehicles, Britain’s defence ministry said in a statement.
Earlier on Thursday, Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, hailed European unity at the EPC summit, calling for deeper defence and security cooperation in order to better support Ukraine.
The U.S. Congress passed USD 60 billion supplemental funding for Ukraine earlier this year. Ukraine is in urgent need as its ammunition reserves, especially those of artillery and air-defence, have been dwindling. Ukraine would receive ammunition for Patriot air defence system, National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), Stinger anti-aircraft missiles from the United States. he U.S. will reprioritize planned deliveries of foreign military sales of Patriot and other missiles to go to Ukraine, which is in “desperate need” of more air defense capabilities amid its ongoing war with Russia. The Ukrainian forces will also get Additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems(HIMARS) and ammunition, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) and Javelin ATGMs besides AT-4 anti-armour rockets.
(With inputs from Reuters)
