British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is convinced that Ukraine can recapture the territories currently occupied by Russian troops.
During a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, 5 July, Johnson confirmed his support for Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson said:
“The Prime Minister said the world was behind Ukraine, and he believed President Zelensky’s military could retake territory recently captured by Putin’s forces.”
Johnson also briefed Zelensky on the latest British military hardware to be handed over to Ukraine, noting that military assistance would include ten self-propelled artillery systems and ammunition, which will arrive in the coming days and weeks.
Earlier, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that his country would send 20 self-propelled artillery mounts, which were purchased from a Belgian arms company to be shipped directly to Ukraine.
In June, Boris Johnson announced a large-scale training program for Ukrainian military personnel – up to 10,000 fighters will be trained every 120 days. Today, the first wave of Ukrainian military personnel arrived in the UK for exercises.
The British program includes training in weapons handling, first aid on the battlefield, field equipment, patrol tactics, and training in the laws of armed conflict. Each course will last several weeks.
“Our ambition is to increase the scale and frequency of these courses in line with Ukrainian requirements. We are also discussing with international partners options to broaden involvement in the training program, working constructively with countries prepared to support either by contributing trainers or providing equipment,” Secretary of State for Defense, Ben Wallace said.
The UK is planning to send Ukraine a further £1 billion military aid package to Kyiv. The current tranche doubles the amount of military aid provided by Britain to Ukraine. The last package consisted of arms worth an estimated $1.6 billion.
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