London promises to supply defensive weapons to Ukraine | News from Germany about Ukraine

Britain will supply Ukraine with weapons to protect against Russia. “We have decided to provide Ukraine with light anti-tank defensive weapons systems,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in the House of Commons of the British Parliament on Monday, January 17.

He pointed to Russia’s “increasingly threatening behavior.” At the initial stage, a small number of British soldiers will be briefed on the use of weapons, and then return to the UK, Wallace said. He stressed that these weapons “are not strategic weapons and do not pose a threat to Russia,” but “are intended to be used for self-defense.”

At the same time, Ben Wallace announced that he was inviting his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to visit London in the coming weeks to discuss the crisis.

Conflict between the West and Russia

At the end of 2021, there was evidence that the Russian Federation deployed about 100,000 military personnel to the annexed Crimea and to the border with Ukraine. Moscow denies preparations for a new invasion and accuses Western countries of arming Ukraine and conducting maneuvers near the borders of the Russian Federation. At the end of December, she came forward with demands for “security guarantees” to the United States and NATO. In particular, the Russian Federation demanded the reduction of American troops and weapons in Europe, the rejection of further expansion of NATO to the east, by admitting Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance.

A series of talks held in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna last week ended, according to Moscow, “unsuccessfully”, which increases the risk of an escalation of the conflict over Ukraine. The West is calling on Moscow to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border and is threatening massive sanctions in the event of a possible invasion.

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West expresses support for Ukraine
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Author: Jan Walter, Kevin Mertens