More support urged for Ukraine during NATO meeting

Calls to provide further continuing military support to Ukraine have been issued during a NATO meeting in Brussels. Plans were also discussed to maintain NATO’s transformation regarding key security challenges.

The meeting was also attended by Sweden, as an invitee and NATO’s closest partner, ahead of its accession- and this follows the UK’s ratification of the country, along with Finland. The UK continues to motivate Allies to follow suit and ratify Sweden as a matter of urgency, to ensure the safety of the Allies, and to secure the Euro-Atlantic area.

The UK’s Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, recognised the crucial phase of the war on Ukraine, and spoke out about the vital role that the UK and its Allies now play in maintaining support to Ukraine. With Finland now completing membership of NATO and Sweden expected to do the same imminently, the Alliance is looking stronger than ever, with more support pledged to assist in the Ukraine bid to drive Russian forest from their territory.

Sir Radakin also looked ahead to the new NATO Regional Plans, due to give military commanders a more diverse range of options by which to defend Alliance territory from Russia and other terrorist groups.

The plans set out by NATO are the first of their kind since the end of Cold War, and are part of a decade-long transformation for the Alliance.

During the meeting, the UK re-enforced it’s commitment to stand with Ukraine to assist in their defence against Russia. The UK are a leading provider of military support for the Ukraine’s armed forces, with a projected £2.3 billion set to go towards strengthening Ukraine’s position this year.

The meeting comes ahead of the start of Exercise Spring Storm- the UK-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence in Estonia, where more than 1,000 UK armed force members will lead the multinational training exercise. This aims to highlight the UK’s strong capabilities when it comes to deploying personnel, armoured vehicles and helicopters to Europe.