Germany and France must do more to help arm Ukraine, says minister
FRANCE and Germany are dragging their feet in helping arm Ukraine against Russia, a British minister suggested yesterday.
Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden has said that he would like to ‘see more’ from the two European powers, which have both faced criticism from Kyiv.
Mr Dowden said the West had to ‘continue to tighten the ratchet on Russia’ and show a ‘determination to keep on going and going’ as Vladimir Putin focuses his efforts on a brutal assault on the east of the country.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky told a press conference in Kyiv on Saturday that the UK, along with the US, was supplying the ‘biggest military aid’ in its ongoing struggle against Moscow’s invading forces.
He praised Britain’s efforts in training his military amid accusations that the UK blocked requests to strengthen Kyiv’s defences after Russia’s first strike eight years ago.
Britain has supplied hundreds of antitank and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine which are credited in helping save Kyiv from Russian conquest.
The UK is now also sending armoured vehicles, anti-ship missiles and artillery.
And Boris Johnson revealed last week that British tanks will be donated to
‘The UK is supplying the most military aid’
Poland to allow Warsaw to supply its own Soviet-era armour to Ukraine, despite German warnings that supplying heavier weaponry could provoke Putin to launch reprisals against the West.
Speaking during a round of interviews yesterday, Mr Dowden said all Western countries now needed to step up action to help Ukraine as the battle shifts to the eastern Donbas region, where military experts believe that tank warfare will prove decisive.
He said: ‘I think that we’ve had very positive noises from France and Germany but I would like to see further action from them.
‘It is actually heartening that the US is continuing to step up its support for Ukraine. I think their military support has reached over £2billion.’
US secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defence Lloyd Austin were due to hold talks with President Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday to discuss his military requirements.
Announcing the visit, President Zelensky said: ‘You can’t come to us emptyhanded today.
‘And we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons.’
While the West has funnelled military equipment to Ukraine, Mr Zelensky has stressed repeatedly that the country needs more heavy weapons, including long-range air defence systems, as well as warplanes, tanks and artillery.
His comments come after a former defence secretary accused previous Downing Street operations of being reluctant to support Kyiv in the aftermath of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s annexing of Crimea in 2014.
Michael Fallon told The Sunday Times that, when serving under former Conservative prime minister David Cameron, he was told to turn down requests for assistance in upgrading Ukraine’s defences despite the Ministry of Defence wanting ‘to do more’.
The Mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, who was abducted by Russian forces in Ukraine, said that many countries had ‘closed their eyes’ to the situation unfolding in Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea.
When asked on Times Radio if he would have liked to have seen more help from the West prior to the invasion, he said the world’s understanding of the situation in Ukraine between 2014 and February this year was the ‘greatest mistake’ and that many countries made ‘huge business with the Russian Federation’.