Sunak to Announce New Aid to Ukraine, Sign Illegal Migration Deals at Granada Summit

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce 44 million pounds ($53.38 million) in humanitarian aid for Ukraine and sign a series of bilateral agreements with Belgium, Bulgaria and Serbia to tackle the flow of undocumented migrants at the European Political Community summit in Granada on Thursday, the UK government said.

The European Political Community summits are attended by European countries' heads of state and government. Its third meeting will be held in the Spanish city of Granada on October 5.

"The Prime Minister will confirm new allocations of UK humanitarian aid... New aid allocations for Ukraine announced today include £34 million for the UN and charities providing shelter and warm winter clothing and £10 million for household electricity," the government statement read.

It adds that Sunak intends to discuss with allies the issue of providing military support to Ukraine, including ongoing efforts to provide air defense, long-range weapons and fighter jets, as well as the grain deal. The prime minister will also express London's commitment to security in Europe amid the situation in Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh, the government stressed.

The military support to Ukraine on the UK's behalf amounted to 2.3 billion pounds in 2022 and is not expected to be less than that figure in 2023.

Russia has condemned foreign military aid to the Kiev regime on multiple occasions, stressing that the assistance only postpones the end of the crisis. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has previously warned that any arms shipments to Ukraine to facilitate NATO's proxy war against Russia are legitimate targets of Russian forces.

The fight against illegal migration in Europe will also be discussed during the summit. Earlier in 2022, the United Kingdom signed migration agreements with Rwanda, France, and Albania. The latest migration deal was signed with Turkiye in August 2023.

"The Prime Minister is expected to raise the need for more coordinated action to address rising levels of illegal migration to Europe... Signalling the UK's intention to step up cooperation with key European countries on this issue, he will announce new bilateral initiatives with Belgium, Bulgaria and Serbia to increase intelligence sharing and operational cooperation," the statement read.

The new agreement with Belgium will enable the UK to increase the bilateral exchange of experience and use advanced technologies to detect and identify people involved in the smuggling of migrants into Europe. The agreement with Bulgaria will launch a partnership on cooperation and information exchange agreed at the previous European Policy Community summit in June, the document said. With Serbia, the UK will sign a joint declaration on cooperation in tackling the flow of refugees, including to ensure the prosecution of criminal gangs trafficking migrants, the government said.

Additionally, the UK prime minister, joined by his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, will organize a small session on the sidelines of the summit to discuss illegal migration and the fight against organized crime, the statement read.