On a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, British defense minister Ben Wallace visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a show of support at a time when Ukraine and NATO nations are concerned about Russian army activities near Ukraine's borders.
The government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed "unwavering" support for Ukraine this week, saying it will stand behind Kyiv in the face of Russian aggression while rejecting the Nord Stream 2 project.
Britain supports Ukraine against Russia's hostility
Zelenskiy hailed a framework agreement to use British money to improve Ukraine's naval capabilities, allowing Ukraine to acquire missiles, build missile ships, and create a military facility on the Sea of Azov, according to a statement released after their meeting.
Russia's military movements near Ukraine's borders have alarmed Ukraine and NATO members. In turn, Moscow has accused Ukraine, the US, and its allies of destabilizing behavior, notably in the Black Sea. General Nick Carter, Britain's most senior military commander, said there was a higher potential of an unintentional conflict between the West and Russia than at any point since the Cold War, as per Reuters.
After Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and the commencement of combat in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists in the same year, relations between Ukraine and Russia deteriorated.
After the Defense Secretary signed a new contract with Ukraine amid concerns with Russia, the UK would sell warships and missiles to the country. Wallace has agreed to strengthen Ukraine's naval capabilities in the face of rising Russian aggression, which has resulted in thousands of refugees camped out for the second week at the Polish-Belarus border.
Warsaw has accused Vladimir Putin and Belarusian despot Alexander Lukashenko of instigating the situation, as per The Daily Telegraph via MSN. To strengthen its maritime footprint, the UK signed a pact with Ukraine in early November that allows British exports to flow to Ukraine.
The agreement will allow Kyiv to seek loans from the United Kingdom to purchase British warships and missiles. The contract will cover the purchase of two mine-hunting boats, the joint manufacturing of eight missile ships, and the supply and fitting of weapons systems to existing ships.
UK signs deal to help Ukraineian navy
There will also be a combined manufacture of a frigate and technical assistance for the country's naval infrastructure construction. It comes after a week of rising tensions, including Russia's assertion that RAF surveillance plane was redirected over the Black Sea while in international airspace.
The RAF was then compelled to activate a rapid response alert to follow two Russian nuclear-capable aircraft over the North Sea, while Russia tested an anti-satellite missile in orbit earlier this week.
Boris Johnson cautioned on Wednesday that the Kremlin would be making a "tragic, tragic mistake" if he believed there was anything to gain from military adventurism in Ukraine. The Prime Minister was asked by MPs at the Liaison Committee what military help the UK was willing to provide Poland and Ukraine to stop Russian aggression.
Per Daily Mail, it comes as Boris Johnson advised Vladimir Putin not to make a "tragic error" as tensions on the Russian-Ukraine border escalate. The Prime Minister was questioned on the difficulties between Belarus and Poland, as well as the situation in Ukraine, when appearing before the Commons Liaison Committee.
For months, tens of thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, have gathered at the Belarus-Poland border. Belarus' authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been accused by Brussels of inciting migrants to cross the country's borders in punishment for EU sanctions implemented in reaction to his draconian reign.
Hundreds, though, were reportedly transported to a neighboring warehouse on Belarusian territory on Wednesday, according to sources. The build-up of Russian military on Russia's border with Ukraine has also caught the interest of Downing Street.
After the Ukrainian defense ministry stated that roughly 90,000 Russian troops were in the vicinity, the Kremlin denied rumors that it was planning an invasion. Because Poland has a NATO security guarantee, any move against it may spark a response from the whole alliance, Johnson said the two scenarios are "quite different."
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