The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson seeks to arm Ukraine for defence of Odesa. He wants to supply weapons to thwart Putin’s plans in the south by repulsing russian attacks by sea, as was reported by the Suspilne public broadcaster with reference to The Sunday Times.
Britain is pushing to arm Ukraine with anti-ship missiles to sink russian warships and relieve coastal cities being bombarded from the sea.
Boris Johnson has told ministers he wants to supply the weapons to prevent the russians from advancing on Odesa, just as British anti-tank missiles have been used to stall President Putin’s efforts to take Kyiv.
A senior government source said: “We anticipated this massive column of tanks coming across what is a very flat expanse of landscape and that Kyiv would be taken in three days. The NLAWs (next-generation light anti-tank weapons) stopped that.”
Earlier, UK Secretary of State of Defence Ben Wallace said that donor countries had agreed to send more lethal weapons to Ukraine for protection against russian invasion. The aid for Ukraine will include air and coastal defence systems, long-range artillery, anti-tank weapons, as well as training and logistical support for the Armed Forces.
Two days ago, in a phone call at the weekend, Boris Johnson warned President Zelensky that President Putin was a “liar and a bully” who would use talks to “wear you down and force you to make concessions.” Zelensky is also understood to have raised concerns about the progress of the talks and whether Moscow was exploiting them to reposition and strengthen its forces.
Earlier, Johnson said a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine alone would not be enough to lift British sanctions against the aggressor country.