The UK has begun supplying Ukraine with anti-tank weapons. In contrast, Canada has reportedly dispatched a few special forces to Kyiv in response to fears of a Russian invasion.

The moves came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov fiercely dismissed US assertions that Moscow was preparing a pretext to invade Ukraine if diplomacy failed to achieve its goals.

While Moscow – which has placed 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine – has denied any preparations to attack the country, it has stated that it may take unspecified military action if the West does not agree to a list of demands, including Kyiv's exclusion from NATO.

Russia regards NATO's eastward expansion as an existential threat.

However, Washington and its allies have categorically rejected Moscow's requests, and negotiations between Russia and the US in Geneva and a parallel NATO-Russia conference in Brussels last week ended without a result.

Kyiv has since requested armaments from Western countries to assist in self-defense.

In the British parliament on Monday, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace stated that the UK had "decided to give Ukraine with light anti-armor defensive weapon systems."

The first shipment of armament arrived on Monday. A small contingent of British personnel will offer training for a brief period, he said, without detailing the quantity or type of weapons being deployed.

"However, these are not strategic weapons and do not constitute a threat to Russia," he stressed. They are to be used for self-defense purposes.

"While these are short-range weapons, they would cause individuals to pause and consider their actions, and if tanks were to roll into Ukraine and conquer it, they would serve as part of the defense mechanism."

Wallace also addressed Russian accusations of NATO threats in a separate post published Monday, stating that the Western defense alliance is "at its essence, defensive."

NATO did not expand 'into' former Soviet states; they joined on their initiative," he stated. "While the Kremlin wants to portray NATO as a Western scheme to expand on its territory, the Alliance's expansion is a legitimate response by those governments to their negative acts and threats."

Ukraine's Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, expressed gratitude for the UK's backing, writing on Twitter that his country "very appreciates Britain's decision to offer a new security package with light, anti-armor, defensive weapon systems!"

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia may attack their country in various ways, including from its ally Belarus's territory. Next month, Russian and Belarusian troops intend to conduct large-scale military training, especially near Belarus's border with Ukraine.

According to the BELTA news agency, Belarus Security Council Secretary Alexander Volfovich announced that Russian troops had begun arriving in the nation for the exercise.

Russia denied any plans to attack its neighbor, accusing the Ukrainian authorities of devising strategies to reclaim control of Russian-backed rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine through force. Ukraine's government has refuted the accusation.

Global News reported separately in Canada that Ottawa has ordered special forces operators to Ukraine.

The television station stated, citing unnamed sources, that the unit will seek methods to assist the Ukrainian government and assist in developing evacuation preparations for Canadian diplomatic workers in the event of a full-scale invasion.

A representative for the Canadian Special Operations Services Command said the command could not confirm the report but that it has provided training and "instructor and leadership knowledge" to Ukraine's security forces on a recurrent basis since 2020.

The claim comes as Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal in Kyiv on Monday as part of a visit to discuss efforts to stop Russia's "aggressive activities."

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.