- Written by Chris Mason
- BBC News Political Editor
The Prime Minister will visit Poland on Tuesday, where he will meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defense Alliance and pledge further funding to support Ukraine.
The UK will provide Kyiv with an additional £500 million, on top of the £2.5 billion allocated for this financial year.
Rishi Sunak wants to highlight Britain’s role in defending Ukraine.
Mr Sunak will then travel to Berlin where he is expected to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday.
Downing Street said Europe was facing an “expansionist Russia” and Ukraine was facing a “difficult summer”.
“Protecting Ukraine from Russia’s brutal ambitions is critical to our national security and to Europe as a whole.
“If President Putin is allowed to succeed in this war of aggression, he will not stop at the Polish border,” Sunak said.
Ukraine and Poland share a 300-mile border.
Poland also has a 130-mile land border between Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea, and mainland Russia.
Mr. Sunak’s focus will be on additional aid to Ukraine, and he will advocate across Europe for more ammunition, air defense, drones and technical assistance.
Britain is sending more than 1,600 attack and air defense missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range missiles, in what it claims is the largest single supply of equipment ever.
More than 400 vehicles, including 162 armored vehicles, 60 boats, including marine assault craft, and approximately 4 million rounds of ammunition will also be deployed.
Downing Street said an additional £500m of funding this year will also be spent on British-made drones.
Britain will hold talks with Tusk, a former top European Union official, and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, as well as plans to send a Royal Air Force squadron to guard Polish skies for NATO next year. I plan to make a proposal.
This is yet another reminder that alongside the war in the Middle East, there is also a war going on in Europe.
And conversations on the matter will continue on Wednesday in Berlin, where Mr Sunak will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The US House of Representatives has finally approved billions of dollars in new US military aid to Ukraine.
The long-delayed bill faced significant opposition in parliament and bipartisan agreement was needed to pass the $61bn (£49bn) bill. It will now be sent to the Senate, where it is expected to be passed within days before being signed into law by President Joe Biden.
And after last week’s NATO-Ukraine summit, Stoltenberg said NATO would give Ukraine more advanced air defenses following Kiev’s urgent plea and Russia’s deadly attack.
