Ben Wallace said that Germany has overtaken the UK as Ukraine's largest European military donor. Photo: Olivier Matthys/AP
Ben Wallace said he asked Rishi Sunak to spend a further £2.3 billion on military support for Ukraine before he resigned as defense secretary.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Wallace said Britain had been overtaken by Germany as the world's largest country. European military donor to Ukraine. His intervention will increase pressure on the Prime Minister to spend more money to support Kiev against the Russian invasion.
Another £2.3 billion is 50 percent more than the UK has already committed obligations, but no. spending decisions for next year have not yet been announced.
Whitehall debate over previous funding for Ukraine has led to clashes between the Ministry of Defense and the Treasury, which Mr Sunak headed until July last year.
On Sunday US President Joe Biden tried to persuade Donald Trump's Republican allies to stop block more aid to Ukraine, a sign of division in the West.
Differences over defense emerged on the opening day of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, with Sunak downplaying the prospect of British military trainers stationed in Ukraine after Grant Shapps, the new Minister of Defense expressed this idea.
< p>Mr Wallace, who resigned as defense secretary in September, wrote: “Before I left office I asked the Prime Minister to increase the £2.3 billion for Ukraine to add to the £4.6 billion which we have already spent. The UK is no longer the largest European donor to Ukraine, but Germany is.
“This war can be won. Vladimir Putin is failing. Just as human emotions lead Ukraine to success, they are also an inevitable flaw of Putin and his criminal regime. Romance, selfishness and revenge forced Putin to move to Ukraine, and this will be his death. action now to support Ukraine and suggested there could be a battle to retake Crimea under Russian occupation, writing: “We have a chance to help end this. The Russian army is cracking.”
Since Russia's invasion last February, the UK has provided £4.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine – £2.3 billion in 2022 and the same in 2023.
The money is being spent miscellaneous, including for the training of Ukrainian soldiers, ammunition, contributions to international funds for Ukrainian defense and equipment.
Mr Wallace is understood to have outlined his request for a further £2.3 billion in a letter to Downing Street ahead of parliament's summer recess, having previously consulted with UK military leaders before making the offer. Number 10 has asked for the Ministry of Defense's views on future spending.
No announcements have been made on military support for next year, with November the earliest announcement likely to be made when Chancellor Jeremy Hunt makes the information public. his autumn statement.
Mr. Biden faces a battle with Republican lawmakers backing former President Trump over further aid to Ukraine.
On Sunday, he said: “Under no circumstances can we allow America's support for Ukraine to be interrupted. The vast majority of both parties – Democrats and Republicans, the Senate and the House of Representatives – support assistance to Ukraine. Stop playing games. Do it.”
ukraine podcast 29 09 23
Professor Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, a leading military think tank, confirmed that Germany has overtaken Britain in terms of the number of armed forces. Ukraine has been promised support.
Successive UK leaders have sought to position Britain as Kiev's biggest European backer, and Mr Sunak has followed Liz Truss and Boris Johnson in seeking to portray Britain as a staunch ally.
Professor Chalmers added to calls for a speedy decision on the funding, The Telegraph told The Telegraph: “It would be important to get clarity as quickly as possible on how much the UK is going to commit to helping Ukraine in the next financial year. Above all, it will mean that Ukraine will be able to plan knowing what the flow of support will be.”
Mr Wallace has clashed with Mr Sunak over the level of overall UK defense spending. The Prime Minister has pledged to eventually spend 2.5 percent of GDP on defense.
But in an interview with the Telegraph on Sunday, Mr Shapps went further, expressing support for achieving three per cent – a level Ms Truss adopted as policy during her short time as Prime Minister.
Sending Britons military instructors to Ukraine, he said: “I was talking… about eventually training being closer and actually in Ukraine.”
Grant Shapps Interview
Mr Sunak played down the prospect on Sunday. stating: “The Minister of Defense has said that it is quite possible that one day in the future we will be able to conduct some of this training in Ukraine.
“But this is a long-term matter, not here and now. There are no British soldiers being sent to fight in the current conflict.”
Meanwhile, Mr Shapps used a speech at the Conservative conference to announce a £4 billion investment to implement what he called ” the largest, most modern and most powerful attack submarine in British history.”
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