British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Thursday that the UK and “a number of countries” are sending more arms to Ukraine in a bid to hold back the Russian military. Britain has already sent thousands of anti-tank missiles into the war-torn country.
“There’ll be more lethal aid going into Ukraine as a result of today. A number of countries have come forward either with new ideas or indeed more pledges of money,” Wallace told reporters after a donor conference in London aimed at increasing arms shipments to Kiev.
Wallace said that Britain’s latest cache of weapons would include longer-range artillery, ammunition, and anti-air missiles.
The UK has already donated more than 4,000 NLAW anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, at a cost of £20,000 ($26,300) per disposable unit.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his cabinet that he wants to provide “more lethal” weapons to Ukraine, reportedly mentioning artillery, anti-ship missiles, and more advanced air defense systems. It is unclear whether the air defense systems mentioned by Johnson and Wallace would be shoulder-fired missiles, like the ‘Stinger’ units already sent by some NATO countries, or larger vehicle-mounted missile batteries.