London pushes '50-day drive' as UK, Germany to pledge new air defense systems for Ukraine
As London pushes a "50-day drive" to support Ukraine, the U.K. and Germany are set to pledge new air defense systems to Kyiv, the U.K. Defense Ministry announced on July 20.
"As members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, we need to step up in turn with a '50-day drive' to arm Ukraine on the battlefield and force (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to the negotiating table," U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey is set to announce on July 21, the statement released by the U.K. Defense Ministry says.
On July 14, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the White House will impose "severe tariffs" on Russia unless it agrees to a deal on ending the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
"We're gonna be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days. Tariffs that are about 100%, we call them secondary tariffs," he said.
Healey and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will chair a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on July 21.
Using 170 million euros ($198 million) of funding from Germany, the two countries are set to obtain additional air defense munitions for Ukraine.
London has sent Ukraine 150 million pounds ($201 million) worth of air defense systems and air defense munitions in the last two months, the U.K's defense ministry said.
As Ukraine continues to face Russia's war throughout Trump's 50-day deadline, Kyiv's allies have sought to strengthen Ukraine and pressure Russia to the negotiating table.
The EU welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed push to bring Russia to the negotiating table, EU Foreign Affairs Chief Kaja Kallas told the Telegraph in an article published July 14, adding that Washington's 50-day timeline is a "long time."
"On one hand, it is very positive that President Trump is taking on a strong stance on Russia... On the other hand, 50 days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians," she said.
