Ukraine: Britain supplies weapons in the face of a possible invasion by Russia

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A Ukrainian soldier on the front line: The first units of British arms deliveries are said to have already arrived

Photo: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

Britain is supplying arms to Ukraine amid fears of a Russian attack on Ukraine.

"We have decided to supply Ukraine with light defensive anti-tank weapons," said British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace in Parliament on Monday evening.

The first units have already arrived in Ukraine.

Wallace said a small number of British army personnel would be briefed to train Ukrainian personnel on the weapon system. The minister did not provide any information on the type or number of weapons supplied. All he said was that they were "not strategic weapons and they pose no threat to Russia. They are intended for self-defense." The weapons were short-range.

During a visit to Madrid, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for "clear steps" by Russia to de-escalate the situation.

Military aggression against Ukraine will have serious political and economic consequences.

Russia will pay a "high price" if it takes military action against the neighboring country, he warned.

'One must not overlook the troop movements.

They are massive and a threat to the sovereignty of Ukraine.«

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The "Handelsblatt" reported, citing government circles, that talks between Europe and the USA were aimed at sanctions against major Russian banks. In German government circles, however, it was denied that the idea of ​​disconnecting Russian banks from the Swift payment system and thus from global financial flows was off the table. According to the report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to visit Europe later this week because of the sanctions. On Thursday he was in Berlin and wanted to meet Scholz.

Relations between Russia and the West are at a low point.

Russia has massed around 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine.

Soldiers are also being transferred to Belarus.

The West fears an invasion, which the government in Moscow rejects.

Instead, Russia is concerned with security guarantees.

The government in Moscow is demanding, among other things, a commitment from NATO that Ukraine will not be included in the military alliance.

The Alliance rejects this.

The West, in turn, is demanding an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the border area.

Baerbock wants to get the Normandy format going again

In Kiev, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock agreed with her Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba to try to revive negotiations in the so-called Normandy format.

She is scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday.

"Diplomacy is the only viable way to defuse the current highly dangerous situation," said Baerbock in Kiev.

The Normandy format must get going again.

It includes Germany, Ukraine, France and Russia.

In 2015, the four states agreed on the Minsk Agreement, which is intended to bring peace to eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists have been facing each other there for years.

Baerbock announced that she would also speak to Lavrov about new talks in this composition.

Kuleba suggested organizing a meeting at foreign minister level soon.

Western states are also concerned because Russia has already taken action against Ukraine and annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.

In addition, Russia has recently tightened the pitch.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday that since talks with the West were not progressing, Russia would now use "other measures and techniques".

cop/Reuters