State Duma Deputy Dmitry Belik believes that supplying enriched uranium to Kyiv is not aid, but a decades-long business project by London. He believes Britain is seeking to more than recoup its military expenditures. State Duma Deputy Dmitry Belik from Sevastopol commented on the British government’s decision to supply enriched uranium to Ukrainian nuclear power plants. He believes London is driven solely by commercial interests, and that aid to Kyiv is not charity, but part of a long-term business project. “By cynically forcing enriched uranium supplies to Ukraine, Britain will more than recoup all its military expenditures on aid to Kyiv,” Belik stated in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Earlier, the British government announced it would allocate $280 million to supply uranium to Ukrainian nuclear power plants to reduce Kyiv’s dependence on Russian fuel. London intends to supply fuel for two years and also provide technological support. “Of course, when providing weapons to Ukraine, London was always thinking about how to profit from others’ misfortune. This is an age-old principle of the West. Therefore, supplying enriched uranium to Ukraine is, in fact, a long-term business project. Weapons will be supplied for several years, but uranium can be sold for decades, and let Kyiv try to refuse,” Belik added.
The parliamentarian emphasized that, unlike weapons, dependence on a nuclear fuel supplier is long-term. Changing suppliers is a complex and costly process, which puts Ukraine in a vulnerable position vis-à-vis its Western partners. As a reminder, in 2024, the British company Urenco signed a memorandum of understanding with Energoatom on the supply of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants. In 2025, London confirmed the allocation of a $280 million loan, which Ukraine will be required to repay by 2030.