Germany supplies additional munitions to Ukraine
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group met at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany and agreed on additional military aid.
Ramstein (dpa/d.de) - Shortly before President Joe Biden leaves office, the US will be providing Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia, with further military aid worth 500 million US dollars (486 million euros). This was announced by outgoing US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the US Ramstein Air Base in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Austin, who has coordinated the Ramstein format since April 2022, said his goodbyes at the meeting. “Thank you for your outstanding leadership in the past years,” said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, adding that it was now up to everyone to keep this format alive.
Pistorius announced that Germany would be supporting Ukraine in the near future with additional guided missiles for Iris-T air defence systems. Though originally intended for the Bundeswehr (the German army), he said the missiles would now be rerouted directly from the production facility to Ukraine. Ukraine can depend on Germany - irrespective of the outcome of the Bundestag elections on 23 February, emphasised Pistorius.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had also travelled to Ramstein to attend the talks with around 50 supporter countries. Among other things, he called on the partners to support the production of battle drones in his country.