2025 'the critical year' for Ukraine, warns defence secretary - as more financial support announced

The defence secretary has said that 2025 is "the critical year" for Ukraine as he confirmed £450m in funding for a military support package.

The funding includes £350m from this year's previously announced pot of £4.5bn in financial support, while the rest of the cash is being provided by Norway via the UK-led International Fund for Ukraine. The money will fund repairs to and maintenance of UK-provided materials and equipment already given to Ukraine, as well as radar systems, anti-tank mines and hundreds of thousands of drones.

Follow the latest on the war in Ukraine here It was announced on Friday by Defence Secretary John Healey, who is in Brussels chairing a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group alongside his German counterpart Boris Pistorius. The group is an alliance of about 50 countries - all 32 NATO member states, including the US, and about 20 other nations - that has been supporting Ukraine by sending military equipment there since April 2022, a few weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Speaking at the start of the meeting, Mr Healey warned: "2025 is the critical year for the war in Ukraine, and this is the critical moment. "A moment for our defence industries to step up, and they are; a moment for our militaries to step up, and they are; a moment for our governments to step up, and they are.

"Together, we are sending a signal to Russia and we are saying to Ukraine that we stand with you in the fight and we will stand with you in the peace." At a news conference following the talks, Mr Healey told journalists that Ukraine's allies have agreed to provide a "record boost" €21bn (£18.2bn) in total of military support for Kyiv. The German defence minister confirmed that US secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, attended virtually, while special envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Moscow, which Mr Pistorius insisted was not a matter of "priorities.