As Ukraine continues its plea for arms to counter the Russian invasion, the former British Defense Secretary has revealed that Ukraine has been refused arms supplies for seven years, according to The Independent.
Former Defense Secretary Michael Fallon accused successive governments of reluctance to support Kyiv in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Fallon, who was in the government of former Prime Minister David Cameron, said he had been asked to turn down requests for assistance in modernizing Ukraine’s defenses despite the Ministry of Defense’s desire to “do more.”
“We were frustrated and prevented in the Cabinet from sending weapons that the Ukrainians need,” Fallon said in a newspaper statement, noting that “some in the Cabinet strongly refused to do so for fear of provoking Russia.
In a related context, Liam Fox, another Cameron defense minister, pointed to the failure of efforts to arm Ukraine when he was a member of Parliament in 2015, adding: “It was very clear what the pattern of Putin’s behavior was and it was very clear that Ukraine You will be in this current situation.”
“There was absolutely no logic in refusing to sell arms to the Ukrainians to counter Putin’s forces,” he added.
These statements come, at a time when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, following the start of the training of members of the Ukrainian army on the territory of the United Kingdom.
A British government spokesman said: “President Zelensky thanked the Prime Minister for the training of Ukrainian military personnel that is currently taking place in the UK.”
At a press conference in Kyiv on Saturday, Zelensky declared that he was “satisfied” with the level of military support coming from the UK.
“We want more, but we are satisfied,” he told reporters, adding: “We cannot refuse any help during the war, and the biggest support comes from the United States and the United Kingdom.”
He continued, “There are many friends in Europe who help us, but in terms of quantity America and Britain come out on top, and I am grateful for that.”
The invading Russian forces have intensified their military operations in eastern Ukraine, where, on Saturday, several civilians were killed in Mariupol and Kharkiv, while many civilians and military personnel are still steadfast in Mariupol in the face of shelling on the Azovistal steel plant.
A British government spokesman said the UK had been at the forefront of countries once morest Putin’s “special military operation” and had provided “unprecedented financial, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine”.