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Britain to pay $2.9 billion into G7 loan for Ukraine to buy weapons

22 October 2024 08:20 (UTC +04:00)

Britain will lend Ukraine 2.26 billion pounds ($2.94 billion) as part of a much larger planned loan from the Group of Seven nations backed by frozen Russian central bank assets to help buy weapons and rebuild damaged infrastructure, APA reports citing Reuters.

Defence minister John Healey said the money donated by Britain would be solely for Ukraine's military and could be used to help develop drones capable of travelling further than some long-range missiles.

Healey said the use of Britain's share of the G7 loan had been a feature of talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Keir Starmer in talks in London two weeks ago and G7 defence ministers in Italy over the weekend.

Asked if Britain would allow Ukraine to use the money to buy British-made Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia, Healey told reporters: "They are developing very heavily the use of even longer-range drones. They will work with us over how they use this money, and on the weapons they most need."