The Ramstein meeting is open: Austin started it online

Austin opened the Ramstein meeting in online format/Photo Getty images

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday officially opened a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. This month it is being held as an online conference. The Ukrainian delegation at the meeting is headed by the Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov.

In his opening remarks, Rustem Umerov expressed gratitude to all countries supporting our Defense Forces, in particular ,in developing coalitions of capabilities. According to him, it is now necessary to increase long-term military assistance packages to Ukraine.

The US Secretary of Defense opened the meeting

Lloyd Austin noted that the United States, as well as the entire international coalition of about 50 allies and partners, remains committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor country.

During the meeting, he noted that this should be important for all countries.

Putin continues to sacrifice staggering numbers of Russian troops and hopes that missiles and drones will demoralize the Ukrainian people and break the morale of the Ukrainian military. Therefore, I call on this group to provide Ukraine with more life-saving ground-based air defense systems and interceptors. – Austin said.

According to him, if they fail to contain Russia, this will be a sign for other potential aggressors. This will provoke even more bloodshed and chaos.

The United States Secretary of Defense noted that a sovereign Ukraine is critical to global security.

< h2 class="news-subtitle cke-markup">Austin noted assistance from the United States

The head of the Pentagon recalled that at the end of December 2023 the United States announced the allocation of a package $250 million in assistance to address Ukraine's immediate security needs.

Austin said the US continues to work hard to monitor and account for US aid to Ukraine.

We have not seen any credible evidence of misuse or illegal diversion American weapons provided to Ukraine, the official said.

In particular, Austin thanked allies and partners who announced new long-term assistance packages for Ukraine. We are talking about security support. The head of the Pentagon singled out Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.

He emphasized that together these commitments will amount to billions of dollars in additional military assistance for our country .

Austin also stressed that the United States will help “strengthen Ukraine's defense industrial base, both to intensify the current fight and to strengthen long-term deterrence of the enemy.”

Rustem Umerov spoke at the meeting

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, for its part, is ready to co-invest in technologies and joint production, share our combat experience, facilitate the conclusion of long-term contracts with interested companies. This was reported by the Ukrainian department.

Adequate amounts of equipment and ammunition, maintenance and spare parts are a critical component of success. But a breakthrough requires innovation and significant technological progress, Umerov noted.

According to him, in 2024, defense technologies will play a central role in the agenda of the Ministry of Defense.