Allies pledge Ukraine over $23 billion in new aid

BRUSSELS: Nato allies have pledged over 21 billion euros ($23.8 billion) in new military aid to Ukraine on Friday, British Defence Secretary John Healey said after a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels.

The announcement came as members of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group met at Nato’s headquarters in Brussels to pledge air defences, missiles and other gear as Europe sought to fill the gap left by the changed priorities of the US under Donald Trump.

Europe’s defence ministers said they saw no sign of an end to the war, despite Trump’s promise of a ceasefire. Support announced on Friday also includes a £450m ($590m) package from the UK and Norway to fund radar systems, anti-tank mines, vehicle repairs and hundreds of thousands of drones for Ukraine.

The money is part of a British pledge of £4.5bn made earlier this year. Air defence was a priority in Brussels. Healey said Russian forces had dropped 10,000 glide bombs on Ukraine in the first three months of this year, as well as launching 100 one-way attack drones a day.

“In our calculations, 70 percent to 80 percent of battlefield casualties are now caused and inflicted by drones,” the UK defence secretary said. The German aid package meanwhile has a significant focus on artillery.

Boris Pistorius said Germany would send 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, 25 infantry fighting vehicles, 15 battle tanks, 100 ground surveillance radars and 120 Man-Portable Air Defence Systems.

Berlin will also send four IRIS-T air defence systems with 300 missiles to Kyiv. “Ukraine needs a strong military and only then can the negotiation process lead to a just and lasting peace,” the German defence minister told reporters in Brussels.

Defence ministers from 50 nations gathered in Brussels for the 27th gathering of the UDCG. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth joined the meeting remotely, telling allies that America appreciated their work. Pistorius said Hegseth’s decision was a matter of “schedules” rather than “priorities”, and that the “most important fact was that he took part”.