The UK has paid the second instalment of a £2.26 billion loan to Ukraine financed with the profits of seized Russian assets as the Defence Secretary said the war was at a “critical moment”.
A £752 million payment was sent to Ukraine on Monday through the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans for Ukraine scheme, the Treasury said.
The first payment was made on March 6 and the final one will follow in 2026.
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “2025 is the critical year for Ukraine and this is the critical moment.
“This new tranche of funds is part of our £4.5 billion of military support this year – more than ever before – and will be used to buy urgently needed air defence, artillery and parts to help repair vehicles and equipment to get them back into the fight.”
US President Donald Trump, whose administration continues to seek a peace deal, said on Monday that he was “working diligently” to end the fighting and suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had allowed the war to break out.
“President Zelensky and Crooked Joe Biden did an absolutely horrible job in allowing this travesty to begin,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
“There were so many ways of preventing it from ever starting. But that is the past. Now we have to get it to STOP, AND FAST. SO SAD!”
Moscow has already rejected a US-backed proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and has appeared to drag its feet on implementing a more limited truce in the Black Sea, saying some of the sanctions on Russia should be lifted first.
US envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia again on Friday to press the Kremlin to accept a truce.
Meanwhile, the fighting continues.
Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine’s Sumy as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 and injuring 119 others.
Moscow said it was targeting a gathering of Ukrainian troops with the strikes.
Mr Zelensky called for “tangible sanctions” in response.
Germany’s chancellor-designate, Friedrich Merz, has described the Sumy attack as “a serious war crime”, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he was “appalled” by the attack.
