More than half of the £900m of military funding for Ukraine run by the UK Ministry of Defense remains unspent due to bureaucratic delays in submitting contracts.
Nine countries are among the donors of the UK-led Ukraine International Fund. Critics claim that the supply of weapons to the front lines has been delayed.
Of the £900m donated by governments over the past two years (of which £500m came from the UK), only £404m has been donated or spent.
Ministers acknowledged that some of the equipment covered by the signed contract will not arrive in Ukraine until next spring.
Defense Department officials say the delay was caused by the need to evaluate each of the huge number of defense companies that bid for the contract.
Shadow Defense Secretary John Healy accused the MoD of being “too late”.
He said: “The UK stands united in supporting Ukraine and opposing Russian aggression.” As Russia steps up its attacks on Ukraine, allies must accelerate military support.
“Instead, the UK government has been slow to get vital new kit into the hands of Ukrainians.” We’ve given it our maximum support, so we’ll need the support of Labor to accelerate that.”
He added: “There may be a change of government to Labor this year, but the UK’s determination to stand with Ukraine and confront and pursue Russian aggression remains the same.” [Vladimir] President Putin committed a war crime. ”
The Ukraine International Fund was established in August 2022 to finance military training and equipment for Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February of the same year.
The fund was designed as a “flexible, low-bureaucracy fund” administered by the Ministry of Defense on behalf of an executive committee consisting of the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania.
Denmark (133 million pounds), Iceland (3 million pounds), Lithuania (5 million pounds), Netherlands (110 million pounds), Norway (119 million pounds), Sweden (26 million pounds), Australia (£26m), funded by New Zealand. (4 million pounds).
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps is actively working to attract more countries to join, but there is a risk that the fund’s track record of distributing cash could discourage potential donors.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been outspoken in recent weeks about the impact of a slowdown in Western arms supplies on the front. Russia is making steady progress, and Ukraine’s lack of air defense capabilities has been cited as a major problem for Kiev.
The call for bids for the “Air Defense and Maritime Capabilities” contract round was opened in January. Equipment delivered so far includes more than 100 unmanned aerial systems and 80 large plant vehicles to destroy Russia’s non-explosive obstacles and support the construction of defensive positions and air defense radars. .
A Ministry of Defense spokesperson said: “The UK-led International Fund for Ukraine is the largest fund of its kind and regularly invests in weapons to meet Ukraine’s most pressing needs, including air defense capabilities, drones and demining equipment. We are supplying.” Nine countries have so far pledged £900m.
“We received thousands of responses from industry to the requirements of the Ukraine International Fund, and each had to be considered individually. We make no excuses for what we have confirmed was done in the manner that it was done.”
