Ukraine Receives £2.26B Defense Loan From UK

Ukraine and the UK signed a loan agreement for £2.26 billion ($2.84 billion) to boost Ukraine’s defense industry on Saturday during President Volodymr Zelensky’s Saturday meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. 

Zelensky said the money would be used to manufacture weapons in Ukraine, and it is to be paid back with profits from frozen Russian assets. 

“This loan will enhance Ukraine’s defense capabilities and will be repaid using revenues from frozen Russian assets. The funds will be directed toward weapons production in Ukraine. This is true justice – the one who started the war must be the one to pay,” Zelensky said on X following the meeting. 

According to AFP, the two countries’ finance ministers, Rachel Reeves and Sergii Marchenko, signed the loan at a virtual ceremony in London. 

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Western nations have frozen between $300 billion and $350 billion in Russian sovereign assets – primarily government bonds held in Europe, the US, and the UK.

Zelensky’s Saturday meeting with Starmer was met with loud applause at Downing Street, a day after his disastrous meeting with US President Donald Trump. The resources deal he had traveled to Washington to sign failed to materialize after Trump accused him of not being “grateful” for US support.

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Currently, 620,000 Russian troops are deployed against Ukraine, including forces stationed in occupied territories and Kursk Oblast.

Zelensky’s visit to the White House followed Starmer’s similar visit a day prior, which went relatively smoothly. 

Zelensky is due to meet King Charles III on Sunday before joining a cohort of European allies at a security summit.

The meeting brings together leaders from around continental Europe, including France, Germany, Denmark and Italy, as well as Turkey, Canada, NATO and the EU.

Downing Street said Sunday’s summit would again stress the need for a “strong lasting deal that delivers a permanent peace” and discuss “next steps on planning for strong security guarantees.”