US hosts Ramstein Meeting to establish global ‘contact group’ to support Ukraine

Europe, News, US April 28, 2022 , by IRIA 1 Comment

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hosted the Ramstein Meeting at the U.S. Airbase in Germany. The meeting was held to establish a global ‘contact group’ to support Ukraine.

More than 40 countries including all NATO and EU member states as well as Australia, South Korea, Israel, Kenya, and Tunisia attended the meeting.

The meeting marked a turning point in the defense consultation efforts between the western countries on the Russia-Ukraine war that has been carried out since the invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022.

“We do want to make it harder for Russia to threaten its neighbors and make it less able to do that,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during the meeting.

Austin announced that the U.S. plans to host regular sessions of the Ramstein Meeting which would turn the defense consultation dialogue forum into an indirect military coalition.

The Ukrainian officials at the Ramstein meeting presented the information about Ukraine’s military needs while calling on the participants to provide Ukraine with artillery, drones, anti-tank, and anti-ship defense weapons.

“We need weapons. Modern weapons. A large number of modern heavy weapons,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted after the meeting.

The talks secured pledges from allies to sustain a steady stream of aid to the Ukrainian military as the conflict enters the next phase. Germany, for the first time, announced to provide the Ukrainian military with heavy weapons.

“We decided yesterday that Germany will facilitate the delivery of Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine,” German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said during the Ramstein Meeting.

Separately on April 27, After visiting Germany to participate in the Ramstein Meeting, the Turkish Defense Minister said that Turkey is hoping for a meeting between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky to take place in the coming days.

*^{Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar speaking to journalists after a NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium Oct. 23.2021 (Image Credit: Anadolu Agency/via DailySabah)}*

Turkey has repeatedly expressed its desire to mediate a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. According to the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, “Turkey continues to contribute, to do everything necessary, including playing a mediating role so that the humanitarian situation in Ukraine does not deteriorate and a cease-fire is reached as soon as possible.”

Akar further stated that “We hope that despite some difficulties, the two leaders will be able to meet in the coming days thanks to the proposals of our president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan].”

Turkey has previously hosted negotiation talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul and mediated a high-level meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in March 2022.