Denmark prepared to send military equipment to Ukraine

by AFP Staff Writers Copenhagen (AFP) Jan 31, 2022 AFP

Denmark on Monday said it is prepared to send military equipment to Ukraine, as the West intensifies diplomacy and threatens harsh economic sanctions on Russia to prevent an invasion.

"I am ready to send military equipment to Ukraine. We are already giving advice," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a press conference.

"We know there is a request for advice over cybersecurity," she added, after a major cyberattack, attributed to Russia by Kyiv, hacked Ukrainian government websites earlier this month.

But Frederiksen said deploying Danish troops to the ex-Soviet nation was "not under discussion".

"Like others, we want to help. We agreed at the international level to resort to sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine."

NATO member Denmark last week committed to granting Kyiv around 80 million euros in annual aid when Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited Copenhagen.

The money is in addition to a support programme worth 22 million euros announced in mid-January by Denmark's top diplomat.

The United States and Russia on Monday were due to clash at the UN Security Council over the invasion fears sparked by Moscow's deployment of more than 100,000 troops at the Ukrainian border.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will speak by telephone on Tuesday.