British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today, Tuesday, his country's intention to provide military aid to Ukraine worth 300 million pounds (376 million dollars), while Russian President Vladimir Putin signed today a decree imposing retaliatory economic sanctions on personalities and institutions in Western countries.

In a speech to the Ukrainian parliament, Johnson added that his country's new aid to Ukraine would include radars to locate artillery bombardments, heavy drones and night vision devices. The British official said that his country would send anti-ship missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming weeks.

London provided £450 million ($563 million) in military aid to Kyiv, which included thousands of promised light anti-tank missiles, armored vehicles for evacuations, anti-ship missiles, and anti-aircraft defense systems.

armored vehicles

In the same context, the British government said today that it will donate 13 armored vehicles to help evacuate civilians from besieged areas in eastern Ukraine.

In his speech to the Ukrainian parliament, Johnson said that Putin "continues his ugly and illegal campaign to control the Ukrainian territory, and that his soldiers are committing war crimes." He added that the Ukrainians have destroyed the myth that Putin is invincible, stressing that Ukraine will win and remain free.

On the other hand, the British Prime Minister said that his country is not seeking to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin, but rather to lead the world to help Ukraine defend itself against what he called brutal aggression.

In a related context, British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons said upon her arrival in the capital Kyiv that it is clear to see how difficult Russia is trying to seize Kyiv, and how quickly the focus is on striking and attacking civilians, and the ambassador expressed her shock at what she saw on her way to reopen her country's embassy in the capital. Ukrainian.

German Chancellor

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Schultz said after a meeting he held today, Tuesday with the Prime Ministers of Finland, Sanan Marin and Magdalena Anderson, that no one can predict that Russia will not attack other countries, and Schultz expressed his country's support for Finland and Sweden in the event they expressed a desire to join. to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

German Chancellor: It cannot be predicted that Russia will not attack other countries (Reuters)

In Paris, the French presidency said that the talks between President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart ended and lasted two hours and 10 minutes.

The French presidency statement added that the phone call between Macron and Putin today is the first of its kind since last March 29.

The French presidency indicated that this call took place at the initiative of the French President.

It is noteworthy that the announcement of this contact comes after Macron announced an increase in military support to Ukraine during his phone talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Reuters reported that Putin told Macron in a call today that the West can help "end the atrocities of the Ukrainian security forces," stressing the need for the West to end supplying weapons to Kyiv.

Russian sanctions

On the other hand, the Russian President signed a decree on retaliatory economic measures in connection with the unfriendly actions of some foreign countries.

The Russian Presidential Decree prohibits the conduct of transactions and fulfillment of obligations towards foreign individuals and legal entities subject to retaliatory sanctions, as well as the export of raw materials and products from Russia for the benefit of sanctioned persons in Russia.

Under the decree, the Russian Cabinet instructed to determine the list of persons subject to retaliatory sanctions within 10 days.

President Putin signed a decree imposing retaliatory economic sanctions against individuals and institutions in Western countries (Reuters)

Regarding sanctions, the European Union Energy Commissioner Kadri Simpson said that the European Union will announce today, Tuesday, the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, and the commissioner added, "I will present a plan to replace two-thirds of Russian gas supplies to the Union by the end of this year."

Earlier, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said during a visit to Panama, "There are other Russian banks that will exit Swift, and in the energy sector we are working on preparing proposals that would allow limiting energy imports from Russia, especially oil."

And European diplomatic sources said that "Sberbank" - the largest bank in Russia with a market share of 37% - will be excluded from Swift under the new sanctions package.