British Sunak announces the largest military aid package ever to Ukraine during his visit to Poland

British leader Rishi Sunak will travel to Warsaw on Tuesday for talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, which will focus on Ukraine and wider European security.

While in Poland’s capital, Britain’s prime minister will announce £500 million ($617 million) in additional military funding for Kiev in its more than two-year battle against Russia’s large-scale invasion, his Downing Street office said in a statement declaration.

“Defending Ukraine against Russia’s ruthless ambitions is crucial for our security and for all of Europe. If Putin is allowed to succeed in this war of aggression, he will not stop at the Polish border,” Sunak said ahead of the trip.

His visit to Eastern Europe comes as Kiev is pleading with its allies to boost supplies of ammunition and air defenses urgently needed to fend off Russian attacks.

It also takes place as Western countries come under pressure to increase spending on their own defense in the face of Russian threats.

Ukraine has been facing a growing ammunition shortage for months, with Europe struggling to supply weapons as Ukrainian forces are pushed back along the front line.

US lawmakers eased the pressure last weekend by unblocking a $61 billion military aid package for Kiev after six months of political wrangling.

But EU defense and foreign ministers insist that Europe still needs to increase its arms supplies to Ukraine.

Germany has responded to Kiev’s call in recent days, saying it would send an additional Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.

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Stoltenberg said last week that he expected more NATO countries to make announcements about fresh air defense for Kiev “soon.”

During his trip, Sunak will announce Britain’s “largest ever package of equipment” for Ukraine’s war effort.

It will include more than 1,600 offensive and air defense missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow precision-guided long-range missiles.

He will also pledge more than 400 vehicles, including armored vehicles, and nearly four million rounds of small arms ammunition.

– Air shield –

Ukraine has mainly asked for seven advanced Patriot systems capable of shooting down Russia’s hypersonic missiles – but is eager to get any help it can.

Six countries in the EU – Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain – have US-designed systems.

Sunak then travels to Germany, where he will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Wednesday.

The German government has taken the lead in strengthening NATO’s air defenses in Europe amid Russia’s brutal missile attacks on Ukraine.

Berlin has urged allies to jointly purchase deterrent systems and Britain is one of 20 countries to join Germany’s common air defense project, the European Sky Shield Initiative.

The project involves joint procurement of short-, medium- and long-range systems, including the German-made Iris-T, the US Patriot system and the US-Israeli Arrow 3.

France has so far refused to sign the pact, with officials there instead calling for an air defense system using European equipment.

Tusk only announced last week that Poland – which has seen Russian missiles enter its airspace – plans to join.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen recently warned EU leaders to increase defense spending.

Brussels has proposed a 1.5 billion euro ($1.6 billion) strategy to boost defense production, but officials say this is far from enough.

Sunak is under pressure to increase defense spending to three percent of GDP in Britain, which left the EU in early 2020, as a general election looms later this year.