British Prime Minister’s spokeswoman Rishi Sunaka has denied claims that London intends to double the number of tanks it will transfer to Ukraine in addition to the previously promised squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks.
In response to a request to comment on the statements of Ukrainian Ambassador to London Vadym Prystaiko Sunak said: “As for the commitments we have made, we have committed to supply a company of Challenger 2 tanks at the moment, and of course we are working with international partners to increase the overall supply of weapons and assistance to Ukraine, but there were no new announcements.”
In early March, the Ukrainian ambassador announced that London would deliver twice as many tanks to Kyiv as it had promised in January.
Meanwhile, Sunak’s spokeswoman confirmed that the UK had already supplied the tanks to Ukraine and told a press briefing that Challenger 2 tanks were in Ukraine.
On January 14, Great Britain became the first Western country to announce the transfer of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Kyiv, and on January 29, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense announced the arrival of the first Ukrainian tank crews in the country to train.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on February 8 that the tanks would be delivered to Ukraine in March. As The Guardian notes on Monday, London will also supply the Kyiv authorities with 20 Bulldog armored personnel carriers and 30 AS90 self-propelled howitzers.
As reported on March 27, Ukrainian tank crews completed training on Challenger 2 tanks and returned from the UK to Ukraine.
Source: TASS