What military assistance has the UK, the US, NATO and the EU given to Ukraine over the last several years? How did that increase since the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and the build-up of Russian military forces on Ukraine's borders in 2021?
Military Assistance to Ukraine 2014-2021 (154 KB , PDF)
Since Ukrainian independence in 1991, security cooperation with the UK and other Western allies has been a key feature of bilateral and multilateral relations. With aspirations to join both the EU and NATO, initial military assistance to Ukraine was largely focused on defence reform, defence planning and capacity building.
In response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing crisis in Eastern Ukraine, and at the request of the Ukrainian Government, Western allies significantly stepped up their support. Reiterating their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, military assistance to the Ukrainian armed forces has been a key part of their overall approach.
The build-up of Russian military forces in Crimea and on the eastern Ukrainian border over the course of 2021 once again threw a spotlight on the nature of Western support to the country. For the first time, several countries, including the UK, started supplying defensive lethal weaponry to Ukraine.
Russia said Western military assistance to Ukraine was a provocation and accused the West of supporting Ukraine in militarising eastern Ukraine and dismantling the 2014 and 2015 Minsk Agreements, which had been the basis for a political solution to the conflict there.
For information on military assistance to Ukraine since the February 2022 Russian invasion, see Library briefing: Military assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion
Military Assistance to Ukraine 2014-2021 (154 KB , PDF)
In a vote in July 2016 the House of Commons approved the decision to maintain the UK’s nuclear deterrent beyond the early 2030s. After almost a decade of work on the project, that vote subsequently enabled the programme to move forward into its manufacturing phase, which will see the construction of four new Dreadnought class ballistic missile submarines entering service in the 2030s.
This note lists brief details of cases against the UK at the European Court of Human Rights since 1975.
In response to Russian military action in Ukraine, Western allies and other partners across the globe have imposed an unprecedented package of coordinated sanctions against Russia. This briefing paper should be taken as correct at the time of writing.
