IRIA News

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Germany to convene another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on January 20, 2023. The meeting marked the eighth installment of a series of meetings to discuss and support Ukraine’s war efforts against Russia.

The eighth meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany brought together representatives from more than 50 nations and organizations “to determine the best way to get the military capabilities that Ukraine needs to repel Russian forces from their sovereign territory,” the U.S. Department of Defense statement read.

During the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed the delegates. It was the first time the Ukrainian president addressed the contact group officials. Zelenskyy thanks the delegates for their support and called on the contact group to speed up efforts to send more weapons.

Zelenskyy said, “I’m truly grateful to all of you for the weapons you have provided. Every unit helps to save our people from terror, but time remains a Russian weapon.”

A few weeks ahead of a crucial meeting on bolstering Ukraine’s defenses nearly a year after Russia invaded, the United States and several other European allies announced significant arms donations to Ukraine, including the provision of armored vehicles and heavy weaponry.

Ukraine has been urging its western allies for speedier deliveries of heavy weapons and especially tanks in order to repel Russia’s latest wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities. Ukraine forces are bracing for an expected intense attack from the Russian side soon after the winter ends. Amid Ukraine’s plea for more weapons, the U.S. and other European allies are urging Germany to provide German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukrainian forces.

Earlier, the United Kingdom, in a joint statement with defense ministers and representatives of nine European countries, said it would send 600 Brimstone missiles to Kyiv, while Denmark promised 19 French-made Caesar howitzers, and Sweden its Archer artillery system, a modern mobile howitzer Ukraine has been requesting for months.

.@SecDef: We’ve just concluded the eighth Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. And it was great to start the new year by deepening our coordination as we work together for Ukraine’s self-defense. pic.twitter.com/ww8EuHcoMC

— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) January 20, 2023

A joint statement by the defense ministers of Estonia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and the representatives of Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Slovakia said that “Together we will continue supporting Ukraine to move from resisting to expelling Russian forces from Ukrainian soil.”

The statement added that “The new level of required combat power is only achieved by combinations of main battle tank squadrons, beneath air and missile defense, operating alongside divisional artillery groups, and further deep precision fires enabling targeting of Russian logistics and command nodes in occupied territory.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Austin said, “We need to keep up our momentum and resolve. We need to dig even deeper. This is a decisive moment for Ukraine — and a decisive decade for the world. So make no mistake: We will support Ukraine’s self-defense for as long as it takes.” 

A day before convening the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the U.S. Defense Minister Austing Lloyd met with Germany’s newly appointed Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. The U.S. defense chief pushed his German counterpart to approve the transfer of tanks to Ukraine. Pistorius takes over from Christine Lambrecht, who announced her resignation on earlier this week after receiving a backlash from the local and international community over her way of dealing with the issues related to the Ukraine war.

In the wake of increasing pressure to provide Ukraine with modern weapons and especially tanks, Berlin has appointed a new defense minister to lead the efforts to modernize Germany’s army and steer policy on the war in Ukraine.