UK urges '50-day drive' to arm Ukraine, raise pressure on Putin

Andrew Atkinson, Bloomberg News on Jul 20, 2025

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Britain and Germany are set to pledge new air defense systems for Ukraine as the U.K. government pushes for a “50-day drive” to arm Kyiv and bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

Defense Secretary John Healey will make the announcement on Monday when he chairs a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group along with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius, according to a statement released by the U.K. Ministry of Defense.

The ministry confirmed the U.K. had sent $201 million of air defense and artillery to Ukraine in the past two months, and said further commitments will be announced during the contact group meeting. They include an agreement between Britain and Germany to procure more air defense ammunition, using $198 million of funding from Berlin.

The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump last week promised more weapons for Ukraine and threatened 100% “secondary tariffs” on Russia unless Putin agrees to a ceasefire within 50 days. He said NATO member states will pay for the weapons.

Trump has spent several months unsuccessfully trying to cajole Moscow into halting its offensive in Ukraine and negotiate a peace deal. Instead, Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, including on Kyiv and in areas relatively unscathed earlier in the more than three-year conflict.

“As members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, we need to step up in turn with a ‘50-day drive’ to arm Ukraine on the battlefield and force Putin to the negotiating table,” Healey will say, according to the ministry’s statement.

James Cartlidge, who shadows Healey for the opposition Conservative Party, said in a statement that it’s “also important that we stand firm alongside the United States in reinforcing their 50-day deadline to ensure Putin is under maximum pressure to pursue peace. That means all of our allies playing their part.”

The UDCG is an alliance of nations providing military support to Ukraine. Created by the U.S. during the Biden administration, the group is now chaired by the U.K. and Germany after Trump declared he was scaling back American support for Ukraine and European security.