No. 10 Downing Street said Monday evening that the U.K. would now be sending £3 billion in military support to Ukraine this year — a £500 million increase on previously-announced funds. The extra cash will be spent on much-need ammunition and air defense systems for Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s armed forces continue to fight bravely, but they need our support — and they need it now,” Sunak said. “The United Kingdom will always play its part at the forefront of European security.”
Sunak would certainly bristle at any suggestion from Berlin that Britain is not pulling its weight.
The U.K. has long been Europe’s leading military power, while Germany’s armed forces were in a parlous state before Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — and remain so, despite the increase in spending.
“Unfortunately, I have to say that the Bundeswehr still has too little of everything,” Eva Högl, Germany’s parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, said last month. “There is a lack of ammunition, spare parts and radio equipment. There is still a lack of tanks, ships and airplanes.”
A U.K. official said any overt pressure from Scholz would “raise eyebrows” in London, observing that while many in Westminster accept the need to boost U.K. defense investment, the Germans “also need to pull their socks up.”
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