UK and Nordic countries announce new military aid package for Ukraine

On October 11, Britain and five Nordic countries, including Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland and Lithuania, announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth 100 million pounds (equivalent to 123 million USD).

The UK Ministry of Defence said the military support package, from the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), which is administered by the UK, will provide equipment to help Ukrainian forces clear mines, destroy obstacles and build defensive positions to protect critical infrastructure.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence, the aid package is part of a previously announced IFU support agreement, which includes more than £70 million worth of air defence capability support.

In 2022, the UK and Denmark established the IFU – a financial mechanism that uses contributions from international partners to provide military aid to Ukraine. The fund has so far raised £785 million.

On the same day, US officials said the country was preparing to provide $200 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, despite Congress excluding new aid to Kiev in a temporary spending bill passed last month to prevent a government shutdown.

According to a reporter in Washington, an anonymous US official revealed to the media that this aid package includes air defense weapons such as AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), TOW anti-tank missiles, 155mm and 105mm artillery shells, small arms ammunition, obstacle-clearing ammunition, anti-drone equipment and electronic warfare equipment.

This is the 48th time the US administration has used the President's diversion authority to provide the Ukrainian military with equipment from the US stockpile. Statistics show that since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out in February 2022, the US has provided about $44 billion in aid to Ukraine.