UK provides £2.26 billion loan to Ukraine as Starmer embraces Zelenskyy after White House showdown

The United Kingdom and Ukraine signed a deal on Saturday to provide Kyiv with a loan of a whopping 2.26 billion pounds, a day after the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s heated clash with US President Donald Trump in the White House. According to The Kyiv Post, the loan was part of the Group of Seven’s (G7) Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) credit initiative, signed by Zelenskyy during his visit to London.

The Ukrainian leader received a warm welcome from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who reaffirmed his support for the war-stricken nation. “The United Kingdom continues to stand in defence of Ukraine. Today’s agreement, which contributes to strengthening Ukraine’s defence capabilities, confirms this,” Ukraine’s Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said in a statement.

The Finance Minister maintained that the loan will go towards “purchasing defence equipment according to Ukraine’s needs.” Back in October 2024, G7 nations agreed and pledged to provide Ukraine a $50 billion loan.

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The main contributor to the G7 package is the US

However, the United States at that time was seen as the main contributor to the loan package, providing $20 billion in assistance, The Kyiv Post reported. The US was closely followed by European Union countries, including France, Germany, and Italy, with a combined $19.4 billion.

The remaining $10 billion was divvied up, with Canada providing $3.7 billion, Japan providing $3.07 billion, and the UK providing $2.8 billion in loan funding. This means that Zelenskyy, as of now, has only received the smallest chunk of the loan promised by the G-7 nations. The nations agreed to use frozen Russian assets to fund the loan package.

Since the war started, Western countries have frozen $300 billion in Russian assets. However, they can only access the annual income generated by these funds, which is approximately $3.2 billion. The vast majority of these assets are frozen in Europe.

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The UK gives a helping hand to Ukraine

After his public spat with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance, Zelenskyy received a warm and royal welcome in the United Kingdom. The country’s monarch, King Charles, announced on Saturday that he will hold an ­official audience at Sandringham with Zelenskyy.

Upon arriving, the Ukrainian president told Starmer that he was happy his country had “such friends”. Starmer announced that the UK will also host a summit of European leaders on Sunday to bring the Russia- Ukraine war to an end, as well as wider European defence.

Recently, the British premier has sought to cast himself as a mediator between the US and Europe to ease tensions between the two sides. Starmer himself made a very charming visit to Washington, where he wooed Trump with a letter from King Charles, inviting the Potus for an unprecedented second state visit.

The UK has been one of Ukraine’s strongest allies throughout the war. In January, Starmer and Zelenskyy signed a 100-year partnership agreement during their meeting in Kyiv. The wide-ranging deal encompassed cooperation in military, energy, scientific, cultural, economic, and other sectors.