UK to ship more missiles to Ukraine in bid to stop Russian tanks and aircraft

Germany says it will not be sending fighter jets to Ukraine

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The UK said on Wednesday it would send more missile systems to Ukrainian forces to help them stop Russian tanks and aircraft, even as western leaders ruled out deploying war planes to Ukraine.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain had sent 3,615 anti-tank missiles to Ukraine and would continue to deliver more.

“We will shortly be starting the delivery of a small consignment of anti-tank Javelin missiles as well,” he told the UK's parliament.

Mr Wallace added that “in response to Ukrainian requests, the government has taken the decision to explore the donation of Starstreak high-velocity man-portable anti-air missiles".

The British Starstreak missiles are a mobile system designed to be fired by troops against helicopters and planes.

“We believe that this system will remain within the definition of defensive weapons but will allow the Ukrainian force to better defend the skies,” Mr Wallace said.

“I want to assure the House [of Commons] that everything we do is bound by the decisions to supply defensive systems and calibrated not to escalate to a strategic level.”

Canada will also send an additional $50 million worth of military equipment to help Ukraine in the fight against Russia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Scholz also discussed diplomatic ways to settle the Ukraine conflict and the implementation of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians, the Kremlin said.

"In the context of the developing situation around a special military operation to protect Donbas, various political and diplomatic efforts have been discussed, in particular a third round of talks between a Russian delegation and representatives of the Kyiv authorities," the Kremlin said in a statement, referring to eastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin said that the two leaders discussed "the humanitarian aspects of the situation" in Ukraine and separatist regions.

Canada on February 14 had already said it would deliver $6.1m worth of lethal equipment and ammunition, before adding another pledge of $25m in non-lethal protective gear.

Mr Trudeau said an another $3m would be given to tackle Russian disinformation efforts in Ukraine, adding: “We need to stand up for truth and be vigilant against disinformation that tries to mislead us and more tries to divide us.”

Mr Scholz said that while Germany had provided defence equipment to Ukraine, it would not be sending fighter jets, despite pleas to do so from Kyiv.

“But it is also true that we have to consider very carefully what we do concretely, and definitely war planes are not part of that,” Mr Scholz said.

On Tuesday, the US rejected a plan put forward by Poland to send its fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine via a US airbase in Ramstein, Germany.

A Ukrainian serviceman walks past the vertical tail fin of a Russian Su-34 bomber lying in a damaged building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

An apartment building damaged after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

A woman puts her head in her hands as she sits on a cot in a shelter, set up for displaced persons fleeing Ukraine, inside a school gymnasium in Przemysl, Poland. AP Photo

Belarussian and suspected Russian helicopters on the flight line at Machulishchy Air Base outside Minsk, Belarus. AP Photo

Children look on as people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine shelter in a school, in Drohobych, Ukraine. Reuters

Families eat in the shelter. Reuters

A woman looks out from a building damaged by Russian shelling in Mykolaiv, 100 kilometres away from Odesa, western Ukraine. AFP

A wounded Ukrainian man waits in the corridor of the central hospital of Mykolaiv. AFP

An elderly woman is carried in a shopping cart after being rescued from Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

A woman reacts as a train carrying children from Kyiv's Central Children's Hospital leaves the Ukrainian capital on its way to Lviv. Reuters

A girl sits in an improvised bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

An elderly woman is coated in snow as she sits in a wheelchair after being rescued from Irpin. AP

Belarusian volunteers take part in military exercises at the Belarusian Company base in Kyiv. AP

Lessa, left, director of a nursery school turned into a refugee shelter, cries as she hugs Olega, who arrived from Kyiv with her baby, near Lviv. EPA

Ukrainians pass a damaged bridge as they flee from Irpin. AP

A man carries an elderly woman as people continue to leave Irpin. AP

A soldier stands on a barricade made of sandbags in central Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters

A charred Russian tank and captured tanks in the Sumy region. Reuters

People rest at a temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees in Przemysl, Poland. AFP

Ukraine's ambassador to the Netherlands, Maksym Kononenko, third right, and his wife Tetiana Doroshenko, fourth left, attend a meeting of members of the Ukrainian community with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, third left, and Queen Maxima, second left, to discuss the situation in Ukraine, in The Hague. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier looks at the destruction after shelling in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv. AFP

A refugee holds her dog as they wait for trains to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters

A woman ties ribbons in Ukrainian national flag colours in a girl's hair as people wait at a refugee assistance centre in Prague, Czech Republic. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier carries an elderly woman crossing the Irpin river on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Lena, who had never left Ukraine before fleeing into Moldova, feeds Dasha, 3, soon after crossing the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Refugees without immediate plans to move further inland can stay the night in tents set up on Moldova's side of the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Tatiana and her son wait for a van that will carry them from the Moldovan border to Chisinau. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Each night, the Palanca refugee camp in Moldova feeds up to 300 people who arrive with no onward plans. Erin Clare Brown for The National

People pass a damaged bridge while fleeing the town of Irpin, close to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. AP

A Ukrainian soldier stands guard next to a church in Irpin. EPA

A firefighter holds the baby of a Ukrainian refugee at the border in Romania. AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks in Kyiv. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier at a checkpoint in Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian activist Ihor Mazur, left, a veteran of the war in the country's east, looks at a night-vision device in Kyiv. AP

Ambassadors attend a UN Security Council meeting on threats to international security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in New York. Reuters

Ukraine's UN ambassador Sergey Kyslytsya holds a paper with an image of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as he addresses the Security Council in New York. Reuters

A road sign put up in support of Mr Zelenskyy outside Russia's embassy in Washington. AFP

Ukrainian refugees at the train station in Lviv, western Ukraine. EPA

Lethal and non-lethal Ukrainian aid is loaded on to a plane bound for Poland by Canadian soldiers in Trenton, Ontario. Reuters

Volunteers carry medical aid and necessities at a train station in Lviv. EPA

Everton players wear T-shirts in support of Ukraine as they warm up for an English Premier League football match against Tottenham Hotspur. AP

A residential building damaged by Russian shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters

A man walks past a checkpoint in heavy snow in Lviv. Getty

A man fleeing fighting in Irpin waits to cross a river after Russian forces entered the city. Getty

Soldiers assist Irpin residents underneath a damaged bridge as they flee. Getty

Ukrainian civilians who volunteered to join the Territorial Defence Forces take part in a training exercise in Odesa after Russia's invasion. Reuters

Men carry a body to a lorry as people flee from the frontline town of Irpin. EPA

A Ukrainian police officer runs with a child as the sound of shelling echoes nearby in Irpin. AP

Parents and children struggle to board a train in Lviv. AP

Mr Trudeau warned of the risk of “expanding or escalating” the war.

“We want to de-escalate the conflict, we want to see an end to this conflict,” he said.

“We will be there to support Ukrainians in every way that we can, but we need to be mindful of the best way to support them.”

Nato has so far resisted calls to enforce a no-fly zone in Ukraine, fearing direct confrontation with Russia, which has 5,977 nuclear warheads, the biggest inventory in the world, according to the Federation of American Scientists.