US Secretary of Defense to personally support Ukraine at the Ramstein meeting
4 January 10:35
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin plans to travel to Ramstein Air Base in Germany on January 7 to participate in the 25th meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine’s Defense. This was announced today by the US Department of Defense, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
According to Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, the US Secretary of Defense will focus on providing practical and coordinated support that will strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend itself today and deter aggression in the future.
Austin’s planned participation in the upcoming meeting is intended to “reaffirm our continued commitment to Ukraine alongside defense ministers and military leaders from around the world,” Sabrina Singh said.
The announcement of Lloyd Austin’s presence at the upcoming meeting of Ramstein, a coalition of about 50 countries that meet regularly to discuss Ukraine’s security needs, comes on the heels of the Defense Ministry’s announcement that it will provide Ukraine with two more aid packages totaling nearly $2.5 billion.
One of the aid packages will be provided under the President’s authority for $1.25 billion, and the other for $1.22 billion will come under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
Asked whether the new military assistance package will be delivered to Ukraine in full before January 20, when the current administration’s term expires, Singh explained that the “capabilities and equipment” included in the package are transferred depending on “their availability.”
