Starmer pledges to continue providing Ukraine £3bn a year ‘for as long as it takes’

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that his government will continue with the plan to spend at least £3 billion every year on military support to Ukraine. The British premier maintained that the initiative will continue to help the war-stricken nation for “as long as it takes”.

The proclamation from Starmer came after his first official bilateral talks with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The talks between the two nations took place on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Washington. While expressing his support to Kyiv, Starmer maintained that the military aid would continue until at least 2030-31.

It is pertinent to note that the UK has to date promised almost £12bn in support to Ukraine since February 2022, out of this £7.1 billion has been allocated for military assistance. While speaking to Zelenskyy, the British premier reiterated Nato’s pledge that Ukraine’s membership to the group is “irreversible”.

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We will always stand side by side to put an end to Russia’s illegal invasion 🇬🇧🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/74RMtco6Fo

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 10, 2024

However, the leaders who attended the summit did not give out a firm timetable for the country to join the alliance. Meanwhile, the British officials stated that the potential return of former US President Donald Trump is also in their back of the mind, The Guardian reported.

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While the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) did not provide the exact timeline for Ukraine to join the alliance, they made it clear the war-stricken country’s path of joining the group is “irreversible”. In a joint statement released during the group’s summit in Washington, the Nato leaders affirmed that “Ukraine’s future is in Nato” and pledged to provide long-term support to Kyiv.

During the Washington Summit, the British premier met US President Joe Biden and the pair shared a few private worlds. During the bilateral talks with Biden, Starmer, a passionate football fan, gave the president an Arsenal football shirt with the name “Biden” and the number 46 on the back (referring to his status as the 46th President of the United States).

Thank you for your warm welcome @POTUS.

I look forward to continuing the special relationship between our two countries.#NATOSummit pic.twitter.com/7qTeTywwIa

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 11, 2024

“It’s [Starmer’s] team and [he] thought it would make a personal gift,” a senior No 10 official told The Guardian after the meeting. Interestingly, Starmer gifted an Arsenal jersey to French President Emmanuel Macron.

While meeting Biden, Starmer also gave the POTUS a framed copy of the original Atlantic charter that led to the formation of Nato, with then Labour prime minister Clement Attlee’s amendments.

With inputs from Associated Press.