British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has appointed a new Minister of Defense. It is Grant Shapps, who most recently headed the Ministry of Energy. He promised to continue supporting Ukraine.
Source. This was reported by the BBC.
Shapps replaces Ben Wallace, who recently announced his resignation as head of the Ministry of Defense. Wallace has been head of the British Ministry of Defense for the past four years and has played a crucial role in how Britain has supported Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression since February 24, 2022.
In a tweet, Shapps promised that under his leadership, the British Ministry of Defense would continue to help Ukraine.
"I look forward to working with the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who protect the security of our country. And to the UK's continued support for Ukraine in its fight against Putin's barbaric invasion," Shapps wrote in his tweet.
Shapps visited Kyiv just last week in his previous role as head of the Ministry of Energy Security. There, he discussed Britain's contribution to Ukraine's recovery, including a £192 million ($240 million) loan guarantee.
The appointment of Shapps as the new defense minister came as a surprise to British observers, as his name was not among the expected candidates to replace Wallace.
But, as the BBC correspondent writes, the choice of this longtime British cabinet minister can be explained:
"Shapps has a wealth of experience. He has been heading various departments on and off since 2010. Secondly, he has been dealing with the war in Ukraine for some time now as part of his work on energy security," the correspondent notes.