UK and Ukrainian officials will sit on a joint panel to oversee the spending of a £2bn ($2.6bn) loan for air defence systems and other equipment, which was signed following the landmark address of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the new UK Government cabinet.
In a 19 July statement, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the agreement would provide “financial support” for military equipment purchases “in accordance with Nato standards”.
The bilateral deal was signed by the Ukrainian Minister of Defence, Rustem Umerov, and the UK Secretary of State of Defence, John Healey. The Ukraine defence loan will run for 15 years, with the possibility of an extension, and has been provided at a “favourable” interest rate, the Ukrainian MoD stated.
"According to the framework agreement, the loan will be utilised for implementing large-scale initiatives aimed at enhancing Ukraine's defence capabilities. This will reduce the burden on the state budget and allow in the short term to obtain the necessary weapons for the defence of our state, first of all, in the field of air defence," said Umerov.
Of particular note was the formation of a “joint panel”, comprising officials of both governments, that would “oversee the targetted use of the loan”, the statement continued.
The focus on air defence is also key, with Zelenskyy regularly calling for additional air defence capabilities, such as the Patriot system, to protect critical national infrastructure.
Zelenskyy wants UK to “show its leadership”
Coinciding with the signing of the defence loan agreement, Zelenskyy addressed the UK Government cabinet meeting, where he called on the UK to “show its leadership” in convincing “other partners” to remove operational limitations on long-range strike weapons already provided.
The UK, France, and the US have all sent long-range strike munitions to Ukraine with the Storm Shadow/SCALP and ATACMS missiles respectively.
However, the US has stated publicly that at present it does not allow Ukraine to strike at military targets inside Russian territory, with Washington concerned over escalation risks.
Indeed, it was only after France and UK first approved the provision of Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles that Washington relented to permit ATACMS to be sent to Ukraine.
Speaking on 12 July, a US DoD spokesperson said that the Pentagon was “always mindful of escalation”, which appears to be the primary reason for the current ban on long-rang strikes by Ukraine inside Russia using ATACMS.
Bizarrely, in a press briefing on 18 July, a US Department of Defense spokesperson stated that Ukrainian forces continued to “dig in and push the Russians back” in the battlefield of eastern Ukraine, responding to media queries on US commitment to Kyiv.
It is an accepted reality that Russia has in fact been forcing Ukraine back on a number of fronts in its 2024 summer offensive, made partly possible through the intransigence of US lawmakers in delaying a 2023 multi-billion-dollar military assistance package due to political infighting, starving Ukraine of critical equipment and ammunition.
