Sweden pledges another $7.5 billion military support for Ukraine

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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden is budgeting another 70 billion crowns ($7.47 billion) for military support to Ukraine over the coming two years, Defence Minister Pal Jonson said on Thursday, adding the country also stood ready to lend further support Poland if needed.

Much of the spending would be allocated through purchases managed by Sweden’s defence material agency, for instance of additional Archer artillery systems, a type already being used by Ukrainian troops in the war with Russia.

Jonson told a press conference that, following a suspected Russian drone incursion in Poland on Wednesday, Sweden stood in solidarity with Poland and was ready to contribute military assets to the country if needed.

“We have immediately been in contact with Poland’s defence minister where we have said we are willing to make available resources if Poland identifies an interest in this,” Jonson said, adding any such support would be coordinated within NATO.

“We are in full solidarity with Poland,” he said.

Poland, supported by aircraft from NATO allies, shot down several suspect Russian drones in its airspace on Wednesday, the first time the alliance is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Moscow has denied responsibility for the incident, with a senior diplomat in Poland saying the drones had come from the direction of Ukraine. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its drones had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine, but it had not planned to hit any targets in Poland.

($1 = 9.3700 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Niklas Pollard, editing by Essi Lehto and Terje Solsvik)