Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Tuesday, May 3, another £300 million ($376 million, 358 million euros) in UK military aid for Ukraine, as he hailed resistance to Russia as its “finest hour” in a remote address to parliament in Kyiv.
Johnson used the speech delivered via video link, the first by a foreign leader to Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada since Russia invaded on February 24, to commend Kyiv’s forces for fighting “with the energy and courage of lions”.
“This is Ukraine’s finest hour, that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come,” said Johnson, a phrase first used by his hero Winston Churchill in a speech in 1940.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also invoked the WWII-era British leader in his own March address to the UK parliament, when he vowed to “fight to the end” against Russia.
Johnson said Ukraine’s resistance had “exploded the myth” that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces were invincible and “written one of the most glorious chapters in military history and in the life of your country”.
“The so-called irresistible force of Putin’s war machine has broken on the immoveable object of Ukrainian patriotism and love of country,” he added, arguing the Russian leader was “sowing the seeds of catastrophe for himself and for his country”.
The new military support, which will include electronic warfare equipment, a counter battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment and thousands of night vision devices, is the latest defensive aid from London.
It represents a ramping up of support, after previously dispatching around £450 million in military equipment to Kyiv in several stages.
– ‘Fortify’ –
Last week, the UK said it would send Ukraine armoured vehicles able to fire missiles against invading Russian aircraft, on top of previous contributions that have included anti-tank missiles, air defence systems and tonnes of plastic explosives.
It will also dispatch in the coming weeks heavy lift Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems “to provide logistical support to isolated forces”, Johnson’s Downing Street office said ahead of the address.
Meanwhile, 13 new specialised Toyota Landcruisers are headed to Ukraine to help protect civilian officials in the country’s east and evacuate people from frontline areas, it added.
The Kremlin has criticised Western countries as they step up donations of military hardware, saying they risk escalating the conflict and warning Russia has the right to respond to any direct interventions.
But Johnson appeared undeterred, telling Ukrainian lawmakers the West would continue supplies “until we have achieved our long-term goal, which must be so to fortify Ukraine that no-one will ever dare to attack you again”.
On the diplomatic front, Britain is also reopening its embassy in Kyiv, with its top envoy there Melinda Simmons telling the UK Sunday newspaper “The Observer” that it “feels like the right place to be”.
The UK government has not confirmed when the embassy will reopen, but Simmons was present in the Verkhovna Rada to hear Johnson’s speech.
