The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, thanked the United Kingdom this Saturday for the “positive signal” for having decided to support the kyiv troops with tanks.
“During a conversation with the Prime Minister [britânico]Rishi Sunak, thank you for making decisions that not only support us on the battlefield, but also send a positive signal to our partners,” the Ukrainian president said on Twitter.
The phone call between Zelensky and Sunak took place today, with the British Prime Minister conveying the decision to “intensify British support for Ukraine, including through the deployment of Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems.”
With the shipment of the Challenger 2, the United Kingdom becomes the first Western power to send high-end tanks to kyiv, which has multiplied requests for support in military material and equipment. This despite fears within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that Russia could view this decision as an escalation of the war.
Since the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, the United Kingdom has been at the forefront of European countries as the main provider of financial and military aid to the Ukrainian government.
In the conversation, Sunak and Zelensky agreed on the “need to seize this moment” of “successive Ukrainian victories that forced Russian troops to withdraw” and accompany it with “an acceleration of global military and diplomatic support for Ukraine.”
On the same call, Zelensky and Sunak praised other international commitments to bolster military support for Ukrainian troops, including Poland’s offer to send a Leopard tank company.
Officially, London has not detailed the exact number of tanks to be sent, but government sources quoted by the tabloid The Sun referred to the intention to send at least four tanks “immediately” and “eight more in the near future”.
The Downing Street spokesman announced that the British government will work “intensively with international partners to quickly deliver the kind of aid that will allow Ukraine to gain the upper hand, win the war and ensure a secure and lasting peace.”
The military offensive launched by Russia against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far caused the flight of more than 14 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.9 million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the United States. Nations, who classify this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The United Nations considers 6,952 civilians dead and 11,144 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Right now, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community in general, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and political sanctions. . and economic to Moscow.
Source: TSF
