UK, Canada, Netherlands announce 'international Ukraine support group'

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced an “international Ukraine support group,” launched Monday with the governments of Canada and the Netherlands.

The group will “coordinate the efforts of the international community to provide long-term and unwavering assistance, now and in the future” amid the mounting humanitarian crisis caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine, Johnson said at a press conference.

“This is the moment for Ukraine’s friends to create a coalition of humanitarian, economic, and defensive military support to ensure that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin fails,” he said.

The international group will be “encouraging more countries to join us,” Johnson added.

More than 1.7 million people have been displaced amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the United Nations, and humanitarian needs among civilians still in the country are reportedly increasing as violence spreads.

Pressed for further detail on the new group, Johnson said: “The whole world is now coming together to try to help avert a total catastrophe in Ukraine. It’s already very, very grim indeed. We’re doing everything in our power to prevent it from getting worse, and one of the most important things is to look after people fleeing the war zone. And all of us, in our different ways, are doing a lot.”

Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, said: “It is crucial that this is not only NATO [and the] European Union working together, but that this is the whole world coming together to defend the basic values and the international legal order as it has been established after the Second World War, which is now being challenged. … We have to bring together Africa, Latin America, Asia — everyone who wants to be part of humanity to be part of such a humanitarian coalition.”

Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, said: “We are resolved in being there for the long term.”

Separately from the support group, Johnson also announced £175 million ($230 million) of “further” aid for the Ukraine response, which he said brought “total U.K. support announced during this crisis to around £400 million.” Johnson said $100 million of that would be “provided directly to the Ukrainian government,” suggesting that the U.K. has reversed its long-held policy against financing foreign governments with its aid, known as “budget support.”

An even higher aid figure was suggested by U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss earlier on Monday. She told members of Parliament that the U.K. had already donated £294 million to the Ukraine response, made up of £120 million in humanitarian aid — announced in two tranches of £40 million on Feb. 27 and £80 million on March 1 — as well as £100 million for the energy sector and £74 million in fiscal support.

The £294 million outlined by Truss would have been the total before the addition of the “further” £175 million announced by Johnson later that day.

No further details were given by either politician on how the money was being spent, how much had been disbursed, or if other U.K. aid-funded programs would be cut as a result of the increased spending on the Ukraine crisis.

Truss told MPs that the U.K. was "doing all we can to push for humanitarian corridors" but that a lack of communication between the Russian and Ukrainian militaries was a challenge.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office had already been preparing to respond to the situation in Ukraine "well before the end of last year" and had sent “forward deployment teams” to countries neighboring Ukraine before the conflict began, Truss said.