Western countries pledged on Thursday to contribute more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.55 billion) in cash, equipment and training to bolster Ukraine’s military capabilities in its war against Russia, the minister said. of Danish Defense, Morten Bodskov.
The money, pledged by a group of 26 countries at a conference in Copenhagen, will be used to supply existing weapons, missiles and ammunition, increase weapons production for Ukraine, train Ukrainian soldiers and clear mines in war-torn areas in the country.
“We will continue to help Ukraine with its military needs,” Bodskov told reporters at the end of the conference, which brought together European defense ministers to discuss long-term support for the country’s defense against Russian invasion.
The defense ministers of Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were willing to expand the production of artillery systems, ammunition and other military equipment for Ukraine, Bodskov said.
Britain, which has already donated advanced weapons systems to Ukraine and provided military training to thousands of its troops, on Thursday pledged an additional 300 million euros, including multiple launch rocket systems and M31A1 precision-guided missiles that can strike targets. at a distance of up to 80 km.
“President Putin would have bet that by August (…) we would all have gotten bored with the conflict and the international community would have gone in another direction. Well, today is proof of the opposite,” declared the Secretary of Defense of the United Kingdom, Ben Wallace.
The pledges come after the kyiv government made repeated calls for the West to send more weapons, including long-range artillery, in its bid to turn the tide of the Russian invasion that began on February 24.
Ukraine said earlier this month that it had received another delivery of high-precision heavy weapons from Germany and the United States.
Moscow, which has accused the West of prolonging the conflict by giving Ukraine more weapons, says it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine aimed at safeguarding Russia’s security against NATO expansion.
