Ukraine’s allies working on effective spring counteroffensive – Austin

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made this statement at a press conference following the meeting of defense ministers of the Ramstein Group, broadcast by Espreso TV.

“What Ukraine wants to do at the first possible moment is to establish or create momentum and establish conditions on the battlefield that continue to be in its favor,” he said in a news conference in Brussels.

“And so we expect to see them conduct an offensive sometime in the spring and because of that we are, we all of the partners in in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, have been working hard to ensure that they have the armored capability, the fires, the sustainment to be able to be effective,” Austin added. 

The US defense secretary also said that the allies believe that the Ukrainians will have a window of opportunity to use this initiative and continue to change the situation on the ground.

"We will discuss with our partners what else we can provide to Ukraine. We want to provide as much and as quickly as possible. Ukrainian soldiers are now learning on EU equipment. We hope that better trained soldiers will be more successful on the battlefield," he summarized.