Focus on Ukraine's air defense: Austin opens 17th Ramstein meeting

The meeting was opened by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. He stressed that the countries participating in Ramstein summit are focused on supporting Ukraine, "which continues to fight through this winter and protect its critical infrastructure".

The Pentagon chief recalled that the day before, the United States and Germany had announced new defense assistance packages in Kyiv. They included missile, anti-tank and other weapons systems, as well as ammunition.

According to Austin, the current meeting will focus on how to meet Ukraine's other urgent needs. They will also discuss ways to help build the future of the Ukrainian army.

According to the US Secretary of Defense, a special emphasis will be placed on enhancing the capabilities of Ukraine's air defense.

"We have already organized coalitions focused on building up Ukraine’s air force and its information-technology capabilities. And today, we’ll discuss the progress that’s been made since our last meeting in developing a new capability coalition on ground-based air-defense," Austin said.

What is known about the Ramstein meeting

Ramstein or Ukraine Defense Contact Group is a series of diplomatic meetings of senior defense officials from several dozen countries to synchronize and accelerate the provision of military weapons to Ukraine to counter a full-scale Russian invasion and to discuss support for Ukraine after the war. The group includes representatives from more than 50 countries.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 16 meetings have already taken place. The first meeting took place in April 2022 at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that following the 16th meeting in the Ramstein format, Ukraine received $500 million in aid.