Sunak says UK to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons, says Russia threatens world security
Rishi Sunak (Photo:BEN STANSALL/Pool via REUTERS)
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called on NATO to double down on its military support for Ukraine, and said the UK will always be on the side of "freedom, democracy, and the rule of law."
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Feb. 18, Sunak stated that the UK would will be the first country to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons, U.S. television news channel CNN reported.
He also said that, in order to win the war, “Ukraine needs more artillery, armored vehicles and air defense.”
“Now is the moment to double down on our military support for Ukraine,” Sunak said.
“When Putin started this war, he gambled that our resolve would falter. Even now, he is betting we will lose our nerve.”
The UK leader said he believes that “what is at stake in this war is even more than the security and sovereignty of one nation.”
UK military aid will for the first time include longer-range weapons that will allow strikes in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea, Sunak said. He said that Ukraine has the right to defend itself, UK publication Sky News reported on Feb. 18.
Commenting on the possibility of providing fighter jets to Ukraine, Sunak noted that there were problems in providing specific types of aircraft.
“But if other countries can immediately provide aircraft, the United Kingdom will be happy to support them in this,” he said.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace stated that Ukraine will be able to get modern Typhoon fighters only after the end of the war.
Sunak ended by laying out starkly the threat that he believes Russia poses to the entire world.
“What’s at stake in this war is even greater than the security and sovereignty of one nation,” the UK leader said.
“It’s about the security and sovereignty of every nation.”
“Because Russia’s invasion, its abhorrent war crimes and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric are symptomatic of a broader threat to everything we believe in.”
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