At NATO summit, UK PM Boris Johnson asserts Ukraine is 'not alone' in war against Russia

In a press conference following Thursday's NATO summit and G7 meeting, United Kingdom Prime Minister Borish Johnson said that his country will work with like-minded allies to ramp up lethal aid for war-hit Ukraine. Boris Johnson said that Britain will provide 6,000 additional missiles and will increase the lethal aid that the UK has already provided for Kyiv. Johnson also batted for unrestricted funding for Ukraine and informed that over 1,000 Russian individuals and entities have been sanctioned in the toughest sanctions by the UK.

"The message Vladimir Putin can take is Ukraine is not alone. We stand with people of Kyiv, Mariupol, Donetsk and Lviv," Johnson said adding that there is an agony NATO members fill over its inability to do more to help.

The UK PM again ruled out the possibility of imposing a no-flight zone over Ukraine- stating that it would involve the Royal Air Force taking down Russian jets. No country in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is going to do that, he added. Johnson added that the talk of nuclear confrontation was a distraction but called Russia's use of conventional weapons, including artillery, "absolutely barbaric".  He said that NATO leaders would "continue to turn the screws on the Kremlin's war machine" and support a "united and democratic Ukraine."

NATO helps Ukraine prepare for chemical attack

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said the alliance is stepping up its defences against chemical and nuclear weapons as crisis mounts that Moscow might use such weapons in Ukraine.  He said that member nations agreed to send equipment to Kyiv to help defend it against a chemical weapons attack.

“This could include detection equipment, protection, and medical support, as well as training for decontamination and crisis management,” he told reporters after meeting in Brussels.

He also informed that 30 NATO allies are also bolstering their own “preparedness and readiness.” The leaders decided to deploy four new battlegroups, which usually number from 1,000-1,500 troops to Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. The other four battlegroups are stationed in the Baltic States and Poland.