Defence Secretary urges allies to step up for Ukraine amid air defence shortage
The Defence Secretary has urged the UK's allies to do more to help Ukraine's air defences before the challenging winter.
Speaking to BFBS Forces News, Wes Streeting said he is looking for his counterparts to "step up even more" to help protect the country.
It comes after the country suffered one of its deadliest attacks from Russian missiles last week as Mr Streeting travelled to Kyiv to meet president Vlodomyr Zelensky and his defence minister Yevhenii Khmara.
The have been warnings that Ukrainian forces are running short of US-made Patriot missiles which are the only weapon it has that can shoot down Russia’s ballistic missiles.
Mr Streeting has pledged that the UK will continue to support the war-torn country but said that others must also help them.
He told BFBS Forces News: "I can't tell you how proud I am of the contribution that this country is making to our friends in Ukraine as they fight for not just their freedom and democracy but for us.
"That's the frontline for freedom.
"Op Interflex is a really good example of that contribution.
"We've trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and we've actually got 10,000 of those personnel back in country now training their own people.
"We're continuing to make big investment and we're going to do everything we can where we've got the capability to assist directly.
"We will - where we don't but our allies do.
"I'm going to be out there banging the drum, looking my counterparts in the eye and asking them to step up even more to help Ukraine.
"We're not going to give up until they win."
Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Streeting said Russia will use the upcoming winter as a weapon against the Ukrainians.
He wrote: "Winter in Ukraine is no longer a season. It is a weapon."
Arguing that while Mr Putin was currently losing the war, now in its fifth year, he warned that "Ukrainians know what winter brings, and how it can change the picture".
He said: "I return from Kyiv with a clear understanding of what Ukraine needs to weather this winter.
"Where the UK can provide that resource, we will. And where we cannot, it is my job to mobilise allies to find that capability.
"My task – alongside my German counterpart Boris Pistorius, with whom I co-chair the Ukraine Defence Contact Group – is to turn the goodwill of some 50 nations into concrete help; to convert commitment into capability.
"That must include greater resources for air defence."
Russian attacks killed 17 people and wounded at least 44 in Kyiv and the surrounding region as the Defence Secretary travelled to the country last week.
Following the strikes, Mr Zelensky said: "Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today.
"It is very important that our partners understand that delays in supplying them, or an unwillingness to provide anti-ballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction."
Supplies of interceptors to Ukraine have fallen threefold this year with many being diverted to the Middle East as the US continues its war with Iran.
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