US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin/Michael Reynolds/EPA/EFE
A meeting of the Contact Group on Military Support to Ukraine was held at the Pentagon. Defense ministers from over 40 countries attended.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin thanked defense ministers from 40 countries for attending. He also emphasized the progress made after the first meeting of the contact group at the Ramstein air base in Germany.
It is known that the meeting was divided into three blocks
- In the first, they discussed the situation on the field fighting in Ukraine.
- In the second, about the military assistance that the participating countries have already provided to Ukraine.
- In the third, they discussed what Ukraine needs now in the war with Russia.
Back to the virtual meeting Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a representative of the defense intelligence of Ukraine joined.
In addition, there were new participating countries that were not present during the last meeting – Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia , Ireland and Kosovo.
Since the Russian invasion on February 24, over 40 of our allies and partners around the world have stepped up to help Ukraine defend itself. – said Lloyd Austin.
“Today we are honored to have defense leaders from 44 countries with us, as well as representatives of NATO and the EU,” Austin added.
US assistance to Ukraine : breaking news
- US President Joseph Biden has signed a bill allocating $40 billion to Ukraine. This is stated in a statement from the White House. The funds will be used for military and humanitarian support of Ukraine.
- Mrs. Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova told what the money will be used for. They are primarily used for defense. Also, some will be directed to support the economy and humanitarian needs.
- It is expected that in the near future the United States will leave about a hundred thousand troops in Europe, unless Russia escalates and threatens Sweden, Finland or NATO members .
