Vladimir Putin is a “terrifying dictator” and his troops must be driven out of Ukraine, said Foreign Minister Liz Truss as Britain pledged another billion pounds for the war effort.
The new funding is a significant increase in the £ 1.3 billion of military aid already provided, with Boris Johnson claiming that British aid “transformed Ukraine’s defense” against the Russian attack.
Truss said it was the government’s “absolute priority” to help Ukraine win the war.
The promise of extra military support comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on NATO leaders to do more to help their country resist Putin’s invasion.
At the NATO summit in Madrid, which ends on Thursday, Britain promised funding for capabilities including sophisticated air defense systems, drones and electronic warfare equipment.
British officials said the equipment represented the first step in enabling Ukraine to go beyond the defense and carry out offensive operations against Russian ground forces to regain lost territory.
The Foreign Minister said: “I have not met Vladimir Putin, I do not know the motivation for waging this terrible war.
“All I know is that we must make it our absolute priority to stop this war and to push Vladimir Putin and the Russian troops out of Ukraine.”