The U.K. will deliver “hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition” to Ukraine in 2023 under a new $304 million (£250 million) contract.
It “will ensure a constant flow of critical artillery ammunition to Ukraine” throughout the next year, according to the U.K. government.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the new aid during a Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) summit in Latvia on Dec. 19, Politico reported.
The JEF is a military alliance of Northern European countries led by the U.K. and bringing together Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway.
Sunak also urged the JEF members to supply Ukraine with more air defense, artillery, and armored vehicles and said that Moscow should withdraw its forces from “conquered territory” for any peace negotiations to begin, according to Politico.
“We must be clear that any unilateral call for a cease-fire by Russia is completely meaningless in the current context,” Sunak said. "I think it would be a false call.”
He added that Russia would use this pause in hostilities to regroup its troops in Ukraine. The U.K. has provided Ukraine with over 100,000 rounds of ammunition since February, when Russia’s full-scale invasion started, according to the U.K. government.
