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LONDON — British Defense Secretary John Healey on Monday denied that the new U.K. government is slipping in its support for Ukraine, after frustrated briefings from Kyiv about the provision of long-range missiles to the war-torn country.
On Friday, the Guardian cited Ukrainian officials taking aim at Britain’s newly elected Labour government for failing to replenish stocks of the long-range Storm Shadow system, a longstanding ask of Ukraine as it tries to hold back Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“It isn’t happening,” the paper quoted one official as saying. “Starmer isn’t giving us long-range weapons. The situation is not the same as when [Conservative] Rishi Sunak was prime minister. The relationship has got worse.”
Healey rejected that characterization of the U.K.’s relationship with Kyiv Monday, telling the BBC’s Today program it was “simply not correct” and talking up the British government’s pledge to provide Ukraine with £3 billion a year in military aid for as “long as it takes.”
“We’ve stepped up with more military support,” he said. “We’ve speeded up deliveries … We’re now spending more on military aid for Ukraine than ever before as a U.K. government, and I spoke at length to the defense minister in Ukraine yesterday.
“He certainly doesn’t see the U.K. support weakening, and he said the Ukrainians are confident in Britain’s continuing and steadfast support for their country.”
Healey’s boss, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has yet to visit Kyiv since taking up post.
However, he held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at last week’s European Political Community summit, with Zelenskyy saying in a social media post after the event that an “important element” of Ukraine’s victory plan is “providing Ukraine with long-range weaponry and granting permission to use it against military targets on Russian territory.”
Ukraine gets to make the call on peace talks
Healey’s comments come as Western allies of Ukraine nervously anticipate U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s next move on the European conflict. Starmer will hold bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris Monday, with Ukraine high on the agenda.
Trump has vowed to end the war, but has refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to win. He has repeatedly urged fellow NATO countries to up their defense spending.
After Trump ally Bryan Lanza appeared to suggest this weekend the war could end if Kyiv ceded land to Russia, Healey told BBC Breakfast: “It’s Ukraine that gets to call when the talking starts.”
He added: “Our job is to support Ukraine, stand by them when they fight, stand by them if they decide to talk.”
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