UK to launch negotiations on taking part in 90-billion-euro loan to Ukraine

LONDON, May 4. /TASS/. The United Kingdom will launch talks on joining the initiative to issue a 90-billion-euro European loan to Ukraine for the benefit of its own defense industry, the office of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. "Prime Minister Keir Starmer will tell the European Political Community summit in Yerevan <…> that the UK wants to join forces with the EU to make sure Ukraine gets the vital military equipment," the UK prime minister’s office said in a statement, issued in the run-up to his participation in the summit of the European Political Community (EPC). The summit will take place in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on May 4. The premier’s office said that additional financing for Kiev "could unlock opportunity for British businesses to fill urgent capability needs for Ukraine." It also described the move as "a significant step" towards closer relationship between the UK and the EU. At the same time, the premier’s office said that new sanctions against Russian companies, aimed at reducing Moscow’s military capabilities, will be announced later this week. Starmer will become the second UK prime minister to visit Yerevan. The previous visit by the UK premier to the country was made by Margaret Thatcher in 1990.