UK to Spend at Least £2.3 Billion Supporting Ukraine in 2023: Truss

British Prime Minister Liz Truss leaves Westminster Hall after the Presentation of Addresses by both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament, London, on Sept. 12, 2022. (Markus Schreiber - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has pledged to spend at least £2.3 billion ($2.6 billion) next year on military aid to help Ukraine resist the Russian invasion.

Having committed £2.3 billion in 2022 to Ukraine’s war effort, Britain is already one of the largest military donor to Ukraine, second only to the United States.

As she prepared to fly to New York for the United Nations summit, the prime minister praised Ukrainian troops’ success in taking back around 3,000 square kilometres (1,800 square miles) from Russian hands, and pledged to at least match last year’s military aid.

She said: “Ukraine’s victories in recent weeks have been inspirational. Time and time again these brave people have defied the doubters and showed what they can do when given the military, economic, and political support they need. My message to the people of Ukraine is this: the UK will continue to be right behind you every step of the way. Your security is our security.”

The British Army's M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) fires during Summer Shield 2022 military exercise in Adazi military base, Latvia, on May 27, 2022. (Ints Kalnins /Reuters)

Truss will use the U.N. summit to drum up support for Ukraine, and will also try to rally world leaders to end the dependence on Russian energy following President Vladimir Putin’s move to turn the taps off on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which supplied gas to Western Europe.

“By turning off the taps of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, Putin has consigned millions of people in Europe to a colder and more difficult winter,” Truss said, adding: “Too many lives—in Ukraine, in Europe and around the world—are being manipulated by a dependence on Russian energy. We need to work together to end this once and for all.”

UK Support ‘Will Not Falter’

During the past year, the UK has provided Ukraine with hundreds of rockets, five air defence systems, 120 armoured vehicles, and over 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment.

The government said the precise nature of UK military support in 2023 will be determined based on the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces, but it is expected to include equipment like the Multiple Launch Rocket System, which has been “decisive” to the country’s battlefield success.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said she will warn allies at the New York summit that now is not the time to “take our foot off the gas” in opposing Putin’s invasion.

“Quite the opposite, she will be very clear that UK support to Ukraine will not falter,” he added.

“We will continue to act to restore sovereignty and self-determination to Ukraine. Because this isn’t just Ukraine’s fight, the whole world suffers when a regime like Putin’s is allowed to bully and blackmail its neighbours.”

PA Media contributed to this report.