MOSCOW, March 6 Great Britain will begin supplying artillery shells to Ukraine between April and June, said Deputy Defense Minister James Heappie in a written response on the British Parliament website.
At the end of February, the UK government announced that it would provide Ukraine with a £245 million (about $311 million) aid package for the purchase of ammunition and the organization of supply chains for ammunition production by 2025.
«The first deliveries of shells from the £245 million military aid package for Ukraine, announced by the UK on February 24, 2024, will be made in the first quarter of the 2024-25 financial year (starts April 6 — ed.)» , — said Hippy.
On January 12, Great Britain announced a new package of financial assistance for Ukraine for the next financial year, which begins in April, in the amount of 2.5 billion pounds. It was reported that at least £200 million would be allocated to accelerate production and the «largest» delivery of UAVs to Kyiv, which would include surveillance drones, attack and long-range maritime drones. Most of them must be made in the UK.
Russia believes that arms supplies to Ukraine interfere with the settlement, directly involve NATO countries in the conflict and are “playing with fire.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. According to him, the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict, including not only by supplying weapons, but also by training personnel in the UK, Germany, Italy and other countries. The Kremlin stated that pumping Ukraine up with weapons from the West does not contribute to negotiations and will have a negative effect.