UK defense budget up by around $1.8bln amid Ukraine war

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The United Kingdom intends to increase defense spending by around 1.5 billion pounds ($1.8 billion) in view of the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

According to the newspaper, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to announce the increase for the fiscal year 2025 in the spring of 2023.

The UK Treasury has accepted the argument that the Defense Ministry’s budget should not fall relative to inflation amid the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, the report indicated.

The UK has been upping its military aid to the Ukrainian forces, becoming the second donor of military aid after the US.

So far, the UK has sent 2.3 billion pounds ($2,793,120) of military aid to Ukraine, vowing to provide equal or more payments in 2023. It has even gone further to voluntarily provide training to Ukrainian forces.

In late November, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that his country would stand by Kiev's side "until Ukraine has won" during his first visit to the Ukrainian capital since taking office.

But Bloomberg reported that many European countries are suffering from a shortage in their stocks of ammunition and weapons due to the large supplies to Ukraine.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell considered in early December that the war in Ukraine has depleted the EU's weapon stockpiles, showing that it lacks "critical" capabilities to protect against threats on its border.

Sunak orders audit of Ukraine war progress, source says

A couple of days ago, BBC Newsnight reported that Sunak has requested an evaluation of the war's development in Ukraine.

According to BBC, senior officials worry that the PM is being unduly cautious as the war enters a crucial phase.

A Whitehall source said the exercise resembled a "Goldman Sachs dashboard" analysis of the conflict and the use of UK military supplies.

However, some parts of Whitehall are concerned about the request, because military leaders believe that Ukraine's access to weaponry could be crucial throughout the coming winter.

The Whitehall source explained that "wars aren't won [by dashboards]. Wars are won on instinct. At the start of this, it was Boris (Johnson) sitting down and saying: 'Let's just go for this.' So Rishi needs to channel his inner Boris on foreign policy, though not of course on anything else."

According to the source, the audit, also known as a data-driven evaluation, is intended to evaluate the state of the conflict and the importance of the UK's military support for Ukraine. It said, "This is about looking at what we have put in, what we have got out."

BBC Newsnight pointed out that the Ukrainian President is aware of the debate within the UK and is encouraging Sunak to maintain strong military support for his country.

"So he has been talking to Rishi. He is trying to inspire him, saying the UK are the great liberators, the great fighters. We need you. Rise to that," the Whitehall source indicated.

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