British PM urges crackdown on ‘Russia’s capability to regroup and to resupply'
Ukraine should receive more and greater varieties of Western military aid, according to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who called for a parallel crackdown on Russia’s military capacity in anticipation of a protracted conflict over the next year, the Washington Examiner reports.
“We must continue to focus on degrading Russia’s capability to regroup and to resupply,” Sunak told a U.K.-led summit of Northern European leaders. “And that means going after its supply chains and removing the international support — particularly, I'm thinking of Iran and the weapons that it's currently providing to Russia, which we should be very strong about calling out.
That exhortation is the latest indication that leading Western powers see a need to prepare for larger and more extended commitments of military equipment to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin likewise is drawing on his remaining international relationships, especially with Iran, which provided a “new batch” of military drones to Russian forces, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It’s important that we continue this and to stand up to any Russian blackmail,” said Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, who hosted the Joint Expeditionary Force in Riga alongside Sunak. “I think it's up to Ukraine to tell us what they need and when they need it, not the other way around. And I'm convinced that we have to continue that effort for as long as necessary until Ukraine wins and Russia loses. It's in all of our direct interests, as the region, that this is indeed what happens.”
Sunak pledged that the United Kingdom next year would “match or exceed the 2.3 billion pounds in aid that we provided this year,” beginning with a major artillery package.
"We must be clear that any unilateral call for a ceasefire by Russia is completely meaningless in the current context,” he said. ”I think it would be a false call, it would be used by Russia to regroup, to reinforce their troops, and until they have withdrawn from conquered territory, there can and should be no real negotiation.”