LONDON, November 25. /TASS/. The British government does not feel entitled to advise Ukraine when it should hold presidential elections, an official representative of the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told TASS correspondent.
"It is not for us to comment on timing of elections in another country. We regularly speak with our Ukrainian partners and discuss ways to uphold democracy. I’m afraid there is nothing else I could add," he said.
The official representative of the head of the government did not unveil the volumes of the UK’s military assistance to Ukraine for 2024.
"UK has been a leading partner and has provided Ukraine almost five billion pounds of support. Alongside we have trained more than 30 thousand of Ukrainian troops [since 2022]. We will announce our further support in due course," he said.
The next presidential election in Ukraine is due in the spring of 2024, but the legislation does not allow to hold it during martial law. President Vladimir Zelensky repeatedly stated that presidential elections can only take place after the end of hostilities. Last week, Austrian Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg said that Zelensky would not be able to delay elections forever.
The volume of British military aid transferred to Ukraine in 2022 amounted to 2.3 billion pounds ($2.9 billion at the current exchange rate). London has committed to allocate the same amount for these purposes this year. The British authorities, in particular, supplied long-range Storm Shadow missiles, Challenger 2 tanks, AS90 self-propelled howitzers and M270 multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine. The Russian Embassy in the UK stated that the supply of various types of weapons to the Kiev authorities indicates London’s open involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.