Ben Wallace said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had “failed” and was “beginning to fail”, as he pledged more financial and military support for the eastern European nation’s defence. Denmark joined the UK in offering more aid to Ukraine at a conference in Copenhagen on Thursday, co-hosted by Mr Wallace. The defense minister said it was important to understand that fighting and loss of life was still taking place, but added that Russia was “starting to fail in many areas”. He added: “They have failed so far and are unlikely to ever succeed in taking over Ukraine. “Their invasion has been faltering and constantly reforming to the extent that they are actually only focusing on parts of the south and east, far away from their three-day so-called special operation. “Three days is now over 150 days and almost six months, with huge significant losses in both equipment and Russian personnel.” The defense minister also said: “President Putin will have played in August, after a few months we will all be tired of the conflict and the international community will have gone in different directions. Well, today is proof of the opposite. “We have come out of this meeting with more promises of funding, more promises of training and more promises of military aid, all designed to help Ukraine win, to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and indeed to ensure that the President’s ambitions Putin will fail. Ukraine as it should rightly be”. Wallace said the allies would soon have to start buying weapons from other countries or “place orders with factories to increase the supply of ammunition to Ukraine” as their stockpiles have been depleted. The Ministry of Defense confirmed earlier that it will send more weapons to Ukraine to help defend against an invasion by Russia. This included multiple launch missile systems as well as precision guided missiles that can hit targets up to 50 miles away, designed to defend against Russian heavy artillery. Britain and the international community remain opposed to this illegal war and will stand by, providing defensive military aid to Ukraine to help defend itself against Putin’s invasion Defense Secretary Ben Wallace Wallace said: “Our continued support sends a very clear message: Britain and the international community remain opposed to this illegal war and will stand by, providing defensive military assistance to Ukraine to help it defend itself against invasion of Putin”. Ukrainian troops have been trained in the UK on how to use the launchers and the UK has also pledged to train 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in infantry battlefield skills in the coming months. Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have announced they will support the program. The UK has previously supplied Ukraine with various weapons, including the NLAW anti-tank missile launcher, which was seen as crucial to the initial defense against Moscow’s invasion. It comes as the International Fund for Ukraine has been expanded, with £250 million of a total of £1 billion given by the UK to provide military equipment and other support to the armed forces. This will ensure the supply of new weapons and the maintenance and repair of existing kit.
