The UK intends to continue systematically strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities. To this end, London will allocate at least £3 billion annually until 2031, states a joint declaration by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
"The UK will continue to provide long-term defence support to Ukraine in line with its commitment of at least £3 billion per year until 2030/31 and for as long as necessary to support Ukraine," the statement emphasizes.
Air defense, US weapons, and “Ramstein”
The UK separately confirmed its intention to continue supporting Ukraine’s air defense needs.
This will be done through its leadership in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the “Ramstein” format, as well as through prior financial contributions under the PURL initiative for procuring weapons from the US.
Thus, London effectively remains one of the key coordinators of international military assistance to Kyiv.
Drones and military training: next-level partnership
The leaders also agreed to deepen cooperation within the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), led by the UK.
A separate emphasis was placed on developing modern warfare technologies.
"We will continue to collaborate on programme LYRA to scale up production of OCTOPUS interceptor drones and continue to identify mutually beneficial joint defence technology initiatives," the statement writes.
The Octopus initiative is a joint defense-industrial project. Under the deal, the UK has received a license to manufacture the Ukrainian-designed interceptors at scale. Ukraine will receive the finished drones to support its air defense operations.
These drones will be delivered to Ukraine to help counter Russian UAVs used to attack Ukrainian cities and strategic targets.
In addition, the parties plan to simplify cooperation for companies, both in exports and joint development of defense capabilities.
The UK will also continue training Ukrainian troops under Operation INTERFLEX.
