Ukraine and UK sign £2.26 billion defense deal
Photo: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
Ukraine will receive £2.26 billion under the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) initiative for defense needs. The Ukrainian and British sides have signed the corresponding agreement, informs the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.
It is reported that Ukraine's Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko (via online format) and UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves signed the agreement for Ukraine to receive £2.26 billion (over $2.8 billion) for defense.
The ceremony was attended by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
It is known that the funds are part of the G7 ERA mechanism, totaling $50 billion. The loan will be serviced and repaid using future revenues from frozen Russian sovereign assets.
"Sergii Marchenko is grateful to the UK Government for this support and personally to Rachel Reeves for her significant efforts that made this agreement possible," the ministry added.
Earlier today, Reeves announced that the UK continues to fully support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.
At the same time, she mentioned that her country has committed to allocating 3 billion pounds per year, as much as needed, to support Ukraine. She also announced that the first tranche of this funding will be unlocked in the next few days.
Reeves noted that a law was recently passed in the UK allowing the use of profits from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
As a reminder, on March 1, Starmer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the meeting, he confirmed to Zelenskyy that he has "the full backing across the United Kingdom."
