US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opened the meeting in the Rammstein format, promising that the United States and the coalition would not allow Ukraine to be defeated in the war against Russian aggression.
The US and the coalition will not allow Ukraine to lose
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stated this at the beginning of the Contact Group on Defence of Ukraine meeting held at an air base in Germany.
In his opening remarks, Austin noted that Russia had paid a staggering price for the war, echoing estimates that at least 315,000 Russian troops had been killed or wounded in the war, which had cost the Russian Federation up to $211 billion.
Ukraine’s troops face harsh conditions and hard fighting. And Ukraine’s civilians endure a constant barrage of Russian missiles and Iranian drones. But Ukraine won’t back down. And neither will the United States.
Lloyd Austin
US Secretary of Defence
Austin recalled that only last week, the US announced additional security support to Ukraine worth $300 million. Austin called the measure an "emergency" to support urgent needs for air defence, artillery and anti-tank capabilities.
"We remain determined to provide Ukraine with the resources it needs to counter Kremlin aggression," Austin assured.
The US Secretary of Defence added that on March 19, he held the first meeting of the capabilities coalition leaders. He is grateful to Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Great Britain for leading the capabilities coalitions.
In particular, within these coalitions there is coordination of such cross-cutting issues as drones, maintenance, command and control, training and activation of the industrial base. Austin emphasised that significant progress has been made within these coalitions in recent weeks and the work will continue.
What is known about the meeting in the "Ramstein" format
On March 20, the 20th meeting in the "Ramstein" format was held, chaired by the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin.
The venue was the German air base Ramstein AB, where the allies gathered for the first time in the spring of 2022. In particular, ministers of defence and senior military officials from about 50 countries were invited to the meeting.
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