A response to all skeptics: The West will continue to support Ukraine. The Ramstein coalition will maintain unity in supporting Ukraine – the main outcome of the 16th session of the Contact Group on Defense Issues of Ukraine ("Ramstein-16"), held in Brussels.
For the first time in an offline format, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the Ramstein meeting. On the sidelines of Ramstein, Zelensky met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, the new US Army commander Charles Brown, and Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. The Ukrainian president expressed gratitude to all partners for their unwavering readiness to help Ukraine's defense and outlined the main urgent priorities for Ukraine. In particular, the discussion focused on strengthening the Ukrainian air defense and missile defense system, the need to obtain long-range missiles, and artillery.
The meeting in Brussels demonstrated the stability of support from Ukraine's partners. Representatives of the countries present at the meeting assured the Ukrainian president of their full support and backed up their words with action. Allies announced new military support packages, including air defense systems, ammunition, artillery shells, and demining equipment. The United States announced a $200 million aid package, including ammunition for air defense and artillery, as well as anti-tank weapons. The United Kingdom announced a support package worth approximately 115 million euros, a comprehensive aid package for mine clearance and equipment maintenance. Norway is providing $18.5 million for demining. France will supply more self-propelled artillery units CAESAR and accelerate their production. Finland will provide military equipment to Ukraine worth approximately 95 million euros, but the details of this supply are not disclosed. Germany also revealed a new aid package of 1 billion euros, within which Ukraine will receive another Patriot air defense system, IRIS-T SLM and SLS systems, and 3 Gepard installations.
Currently, Ukraine is in dire need of strengthening its air defense system to counter Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure during the winter. The aggressor is preparing to use winter as a weapon of war again and will continue to attack Ukraine's energy infrastructure, resorting to open terror against the civilian population to intimidate and provoke panic among Ukrainians. To prevent this, it is important to mobilize additional resources to support Ukraine in the form of air defense systems, artillery, and ammunition. The instrument of terror must be wrested from Russia's hands. Therefore, the main focus is on protecting the Ukrainian sky before the winter.
The Contact Group members took into account the needs of the upcoming winter campaign: warm uniforms, generators, etc. Partners pledged to provide additional air defense systems. "This is an important signal to our partners before winter - we need more air defense systems, more heavy weapons, and ammunition. We must protect our cities, our infrastructure," noted Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov at the end of the meeting. Canada will provide winter uniforms for soldiers and equipment worth about $25 million. Spain will provide additional air defense systems, help with warm clothing for soldiers, generators for winter preparation, and allocate 1.5 million euros for humanitarian demining. Additionally, it will continue the crucial mission of training Ukrainian military personnel in the operation of HAWK anti-aircraft missile systems. Lithuania will provide 2 NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems, 155mm caliber artillery ammunition, as well as generators, army-derived beds, and warm uniforms for the winter campaign.
This is not an exhaustive list of actions by partner countries in support of Ukraine following Ramstein-16. Around 50 countries participate in this format, and each of them decides for itself what information to disclose.
Practical preparation is also underway to provide F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Belgium will train F-16 pilots and mission planners and will once again host a Ukrainian technical specialist squad for training. Two Belgian companies (Sabena Engineering and Patria Bec) will provide substantial technical support to the F-16 fleet. The approximate timelines for sending F-16 aircraft to Ukraine have also become clear. Denmark aims to send them in the spring of 2024, while Belgium is discussing sending the fighters in 2025.
Furthermore, Belgium has become the first in the world to initiate concrete use of frozen Russian assets to compensate for the damage from Russian aggression. Next year, Ukraine will receive 1.7 billion euros to support defense and reconstruction projects. At the Ramstein-16 meeting, Ukraine proposed the creation of the Defense Industry Development Coalition within the coalitions. "Our priority for this year and the next is to attract international defense companies and corporations to open production facilities in Ukraine. This is a question of our national security — providing the Armed Forces with weapons, technology development, and economic security," emphasized Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
The unprecedented escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict temporarily seemed to divert the West's attention from the Ukrainian crisis. Nevertheless, as events on October 11 in Brussels demonstrated, the West, including the United States, remains committed to assisting Kyiv. Despite new hotspots of instability in the world, support from allies for Ukraine remains unwavering, as everyone understands that Russian aggression poses a threat to European security and is a clear challenge to NATO. "Our support for the freedom forces of Ukraine will be swift in any season or in any storm," emphasized US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin.
Source: 24Brussels.online
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