UK has 'exhausted kit gifted to Ukraine,' Defence Minister admits - as government resorts to handing over weapons blueprints
Luke Pollard told LBC the government has had to shift focus to providing Storm Shadow missile blueprints
Defence Minister Luke Pollard has admitted the UK has “exhausted the kit that we are gifting” to Ukraine - as Andy Burnham arrived in Kyiv to hand over Storm Shadow missile blueprints.
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Speaking with Tom Swarbrick at Breakast, the MP for Plymouth Sutton told LBC that the government has shifted its focus to supplying Ukraine with new technologies in a bid to counter the shortfall.
"We've certainly exhausted the kit that we are gifting, and that's something that we've been clear about now for quite some time," he told LBC.
"And so that's why we've shifted in the past year and a half in particular to developing new technologies."
It comes as Andy Burnham arrived in the Kyiv on Monday morning, as Ukraine marked its 35th Independence Day in the shadow of the ongoing war with Russia.
Burnham was pictured shaking hands with Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, as he disembarked the train station in Kyiv.
"It's not just the SCALP (Storm Shadow) missile that the Prime Minister is announcing today," Luke Pollard told Tom.
"We've also got programmes for low-cost cruise missiles, low-cost ballistic missiles, and air defence and counter-drone measures.
"Because keeping Ukraine in the fight to make sure that Russia doesn't win, that Ukrainians are able to be free to determine their own future, is not just important for Ukraine, it's important for our national security.”
Speaking on the latest offering to Ukraine, the Defence Minister said: "We've largely gifted most of the available platforms that we can in the United Kingdom and across the Western alliance.
"And so the effort has shifted from gifting equipment to developing equipment so they can build it themselves.”
It comes as Russia threatened “consequences” over the reported use of British drones by Ukraine in its recent ramping up of deep strikes into Russia’s mainland.
Last week, Putin accused the UK of deliberately escalating the conflict in relation to the UK-made drones and said the deeper the country’s involvement became, “the higher the price it will pay”.
The PM's arrival in Kyiv was a move designed to reiterate the UK’s continued support for Zelenskyy's nation.
As part of the trip, Burnham is poised to hand the Ukrainian leader the valuable weapons blueprints, ahead of chairing his first meeting with the so-called coalition of the willing.