Pentagon Chief hosts 18th Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting

Europe, News, US January 25, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hosted a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on January 23, 2024. The meeting detailed the formation of two new coalitions of European nations, one focusing on drones while the other one on armor.

The U.S. did not announce any new military aid package for Kyiv during the first Ukraine Contact Group meeting for 2024. While several European defense ministers traveled to Brussels the NATO headquarters to participate in the meeting, the U.S. Defense Secretary Austin conducted the meeting in a virtual format as he had not been able to travel due to health-related problems.

During his opening remarks, Austin said “Ukraine’s fight is important for all of our countries.” He mentioned that the United States announced an additional $250 million package for Ukraine in December 2023. “The package includes lifesaving air-defense munitions, air-defense system components, ammunition for HIMARS, anti-armor munitions, 155-millimeter and 105-millimeter artillery ammunition, and medical equipment.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also participated in the meeting and welcomed the Allies’ commitments to continue supporting Ukraine. According to a NATO press release, Stoltenberg stressed that Russia’s massive strikes highlight the urgent need to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses. Through the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

Stoltenberg said that the Allies have already delivered a wide range of air defense systems to Ukraine, including Patriots, IRIS-T, and NASAMS. In addition, under NATO’s Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP). He committed that the Alliance would be supplying more winter equipment, demining equipment, and fuel to help Ukraine weather the difficult winter.

At a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, NATO Secretary General @jensstoltenberg welcomed Allies’ commitments to continue supporting Ukraine now and for the long term #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦
— NATO (@NATO) January 23, 2024

Stoltenberg also outlined NATO’s support to ramp up ammunition production, including the recent purchase of up to 1,000 Patriot interceptor missiles through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). He announced that NATO has concluded contracts for the purchase of around 220,000 155-millimeter artillery shells worth $1.2 billion. This will replenish the Allies’ stocks, as they continue to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses.

Stoltenberg stressed that NATO is committed to providing long-term support to Ukraine. Allies agreed in Vilnius to expand NATO’s CAP to a multi-year support program to cover critical short-term needs and build long-term interoperability to help protect Ukraine’s people, critical infrastructure, and military forces.

Two new coalitions formed

In a briefing to reporters at the meeting, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander announced that Germany and Latvia will lead the newly formed armor and drone capability coalitions collectively. The Pentagon later clarified it was Poland, not Germany.

Ukraine support package — ^{Pallets containing ammunition, explosives, and other supplies bound for Ukraine are loaded onboard an aircraft during a foreign military sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, March 20, 2022. (Image Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Marco A. Gomez)}

Wallander didn’t supply in-depth information about all the new coalitions’ impending pursuits, during her briefing with reporters, but she did mention that the drone-focused team will be looking at multi-domain and multifunctional aspects in which uncrewed aerial vehicles play an evolving role on the battlefield.