Austin urged Ramstein participants to provide even more assistance to Ukraine
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is convinced that a sovereign and secure Ukraine is crucial for global security, and he called on the members of the Contact Group on Ukraine’s Defense, the so-called Ramstein, to continue to provide even more assistance to Ukraine.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Interfax-Ukraine.
Opening the virtual meeting on Tuesday, he said: "Let's be honest: our support for Ukraine in its fight against tyranny will make all our countries safer. If we lose our temper, if we shudder, if we fail in deterrence, others will become aggressors. We will only invite more bloodshed and more chaos. So a sovereign and secure Ukraine is crucial to global security. We must not waver in our support for Ukraine."
The US Secretary of Defense stated that the fight conducted by Ukraine is "important for all of our countries".
"Incredibly brave Ukrainian troops continue to fight against the Kremlin invaders on a large front line in the terrible winter weather. Ukrainian defenders continue to inflict significant losses on Kremlin forces. Putin continues to sacrifice staggering numbers of Russian troops in his reckless and foolhardy war of choice. Putin hopes that missiles and drones will demoralize the Ukrainian people and break the morale of the Ukrainian army. That's why I urge this group to dig deeper to provide Ukraine with more vital ground-based air defense and interception systems," he elaborated.
Austin also noted that after nearly two years of war, the Ukrainian people are strongly resisting Russian aggression and occupation, and the Russian army is "severely weakened and demoralized."
"The Russian army continues to suffer significant casualties again, and Ukraine has regained more than half of the sovereign territory seized by Russia since its unprovoked invasion," he added.
The head of the US Defense Department reminded the Ramstein participants of the recent $250 million US aid package, which included 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, medical equipment.
In addition, Austin reiterated that there was no evidence of "misuse or illegal transfer of U.S. equipment provided to Ukraine."
He also recognized the contribution of other members of the group.
"We must continue to focus on both Ukraine's immediate combat needs and on helping Ukraine strengthen and modernize its defense forces...that is why the United States organized the Ukraine Defense Industrial Base Conference in Washington last month to launch a new era of cooperation to meet Ukraine's long-term security needs," the minister explained.
