UK set to enter talks to join the European Union’s $105.9 billion Ukraine loan

By Muvija M

LONDON, May 3 (Reuters) – Britain is set to enter talks to join the European Union’s 78 billion pound loan ($106 billion) to Ukraine, the government said on Sunday, in a further sign of deepening European defence ties under rising U.S. pressure.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected on Monday to tell a summit in Armenia’s capital Yerevan of the European Political Community – a discussion forum set up after Russia’s invasion in 2022 – that Britain wants to work with the EU to support Ukraine in getting vital military equipment, his office said.

The loan, approved by the EU last month, is set to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s needs for the next two years, with the bulk of that amount earmarked for military spending as Kyiv defends itself against Russia’s four-year war.

The extra funding could also unlock opportunities for British businesses to meet Ukraine’s urgent needs, particularly in the defence sector, the government said in a statement.

FURTHER SANCTIONS ON RUSSIAN COMPANIES

Britain, which has imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russia since the war began in 2022, will also announce another tranche of “stinging sanctions” on Russian companies this week to disrupt military supply chains, it said.

Starmer’s visit, the first by a British leader to Armenia since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1990, comes as the Trump administration pushes Europe to take more responsibility for the continent’s defence.

European countries, including Germany, France and Britain, have recently come under further pressure from Washington after refusing to join the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran.

“When the UK and the European Union work together, we all reap the benefits — and in these volatile times we need to go further and faster on defence to keep people safe,” Starmer said in the statement.

He has previously called for stronger defence integration within the continent to cut NATO’s over-reliance on the U.S., hinting at further alignment with the EU’s single market and deeper economic integration, six years after Brexit.

($1 = 0.7368 pounds)

(Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by David Holmes)