Political commentator David Foxx retweeted a number of articles going back more than six years to disprove any such accusations against the UK. He wrote on Twitter: “The UK’s response to Russians invasion of Ukraine. A thread. Some are saying the UK isn’t doing enough. So I’ll let you decide for yourselves. The UK has been training Ukrainian troops since 2015.”
Lord Hannan was quick to throw his support behind the lengthy thread, and replied: “This thread is the definitive answer to those who claim that the UK has been lagging behind in its support for Ukraine.
“The facts speak for themselves. No country has done more.
The first of the articles tweeted from Mr Foxx is from August 2015 regarding Britain doubling the numbers of Ukrainian troops it is training at a time when Russian-backed separatists had launched their biggest assault in six months.
In January, Sky News reported a group of around 30 elite British troops arrived in Ukraine to help train the country’s armed forces on new anti-tank weapons gifted by the UK as fears of a Russian invasion escalated.
During the same month, Armed Forces Minister James Heappey told Times Radio the Ministry of Defence had given “thousands” of anti-armour weapons to Ukraine.
This huge support continued last month when Boris Johnson told the House of Commons: “In light of the increasingly threatening behaviour from Russia, the UK will shortly be providing a further package of military support to Ukraine.
“This will include lethal aid in the form of defensive weapons and non-lethal aid.”
Mr Foxx also retweeted an article from January that saw Germany spark a furious reaction after it offered just 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine to help it defend itself against a possible Russian invasion.
READ MORE: Russia vows to ramp up Kyiv onslaught imminently
But the EU decided not to curb Russian energy imports, or cut Russia off from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) global payments system following objections from some member states.
Not immediately removing Russia from SWIFT sparked a furious reaction, with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, hosting a meeting of EU counterparts in Paris on Friday to discuss the economic consequences insisting it remains an option, but only as a last resort.
He said some EU member states – but not France – had reservations about making such a step.
