#ramsteinsummit

“2025 is the critical year for this war. Now is the critical moment... for defense industries, militaries and governments to step up.” ~ British Defense Secretary, John Healey 🇺🇦💙💛🇪🇺

#Repost @kyivindependent_official with @use.repost_ . . . NATO allies committed more than 21 billion euros ($23.8 billion) in long-term military aid to Ukraine during the April 11 meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), British Defense Secretary John Healey said.

“This is record support in military aid to Ukraine,” Healey said.

The Ramstein-format meeting in Brussels comes amid growing uncertainty over U.S. support for Ukraine and efforts by European allies to close the gap as Kyiv resists Russia’s ongoing invasion.

“2025 is the critical year for this war,” Healey said. “Now is the critical moment... for defense industries, militaries and governments to step up.”

The defense secretary stressed that the pledges were not only about firepower but about sending a clear message: “We stand with you in the fight and in the peace.”

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Photo: Omar Havana / Getty Images

“[This $500 million aid package for Ukraine] includes additional missiles for Ukrainian air defense, more ammunition, and more air-to-ground munitions and other equipment to support Ukraine’s F-16s.” ~ U.S. Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin 🇺🇦👏💙💛🙏🇺🇸

#Repost @kyivindependent_official with @use.repost_ . . . Outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Jan. 9 a $500 million aid package for Ukraine, including air defense missiles, ammunition, and equipment for F-16 fighter jets.

The package was unveiled at the Ramstein summit in Germany. It is expected to be the final U.S. defense tranche provided by the Biden administration before Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Trump’s imminent return to the White House has caused concern about the future of U.S. support for Ukraine, as the president-elect has often criticized the Biden administration’s assistance provided to Kyiv.

The incoming U.S. leadership changes have also cast doubt on the future of the Ramstein-format Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of 57 countries that has been coordinating aid for Ukraine since April 2022.

“Month after month, members of this Contact Group have helped provide, produce, and sustain the systems and the munitions that Ukraine needs,” Austin said in his address to the meeting alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

“So we must not let up. That’s why I am announcing today another Presidential Drawdown Authority package, valued at approximately $500 million.

“It includes additional missiles for Ukrainian air defense, more ammunition, and more air-to-ground munitions and other equipment to support Ukraine’s F-16s.”

Photo: Kent Nishimura / Getty Images

Several items critical for the defense of Ukraine are on the agenda for discussion at the next Ramstein summit at the headquarters of NATO in Brussels. 🇺🇦💙💛🇺🇦

#Repost @kyivindependent_official with @use.repost

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Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has already started new offensive actions in Ukraine, "sending in thousands and thousands more troops," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Feb. 13, as quoted by the Financial Times.

"It is clear that we are in the race of logistics. Key capabilities like ammunition...must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield."

A day before the Ramsten-9 summit, Stoltenberg told reporters that NATO needed to increase ammunition production, which is expected to be the key subject of discussion at the Feb. 14 meeting, according to the Financial Times.

"The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles. The current rate of Ukraine's ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This puts our defense industries under strain," said the NATO head.

He added that the faster Ukraine could be provided with weapons, ammunition, and other equipment, the more lives could be saved.

The ninth meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein summit, will take place on Feb. 14 at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The main issues on the meeting's agenda will be the protection of the Ukrainian sky, the "tank coalition's" development, the formation of a safety margin for ammunition, training programs for Ukrainian troops, and stability of military support, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov.

Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images