Along with the US and other European allies, the UK has been a major backer of Ukraine since Russia‘s invasion began in February 2022.
But questions have been raised about whether US president-elect President Donald Trump will have the appetite to continue providing support to Ukraine when he enters office later this month, as he previously vowed to swiftly end the conflict through negotiation.
The outgoing President, Joe Biden, a Democrat, has been a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin and has signed off on huge packages of support throughout the conflict.
Between the start of the war and October 2024, the US had allocated some £49.7bn for military support, according to German research organisation the Kiel Institute, with European Nato members allocating £43.7bn over the same period.
Support provided by the US, UK, Germany and Turkey has included anti-tank weapons, missile defence systems such as Patriot, artillery guns, as well as tanks and drones, as per BBC News.
The American, British and French governments have also supplied Kyiv with long-range missiles like Atacms and Storm Shadow/Scalp.
In November, London and Washington also gave the green light for Volodymyr Zelenky’s forces to use their missiles to strike targets within Russian territory, in a move that enraged Moscow.
But Trump, who takes office on January 20, previously cast doubt on the United States’ commitment to Ukraine in terms of aid on the campaign trail, claiming he would be able to broker a deal between the two countries to end the fighting.
The Financial Times reported in December that the Republican does plan to continue military support for Ukraine after his inauguration, despite his public messaging, citing undisclosed sources.
But the former star of The Apprentice is yet to flesh out his stance on tackling the issue, and Ukraine would be severely weakened without his adminstration’s financial and military support.
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In December, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said during a visit to Norway it would be a “big mistake” if Ukraine’s allies failed to continue providing “strongest” support, after Trump criticised Kyiv’s Biden-sanctioned use US missiles in Russia.
Sir Keir urged Western allies not to “take our eye off the ball” as Ukraine entered its third winter of the conflict.
The PM insisted it was time for allies of Kyiv to “double down” on their financial commitments, as well as the sanctions levelled at Moscow and training for Ukrainian troops.
“It’s important that we put Ukraine in the strongest possible position if there are to be negotiations, and even if there aren’t to be negotiations,” Sir Keir said.
“But it would be a big mistake, in my view, to take our eye off the ball and not ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position, which is why we’ve been doubling down on this at many of the international meetings we’ve had with our allies to discuss this,” he added.