Ukraine's Defense Minister reveals key goals at Ramstein meeting in London
Photo: Ukraine's Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal (Getty Images)
Representatives of Ukraine arrived in London for a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Ukraine's Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal outlined the expectations and goals of the meeting.
"We will hold a series of negotiations with partner countries’ officials as well as with private manufacturers. We expect enhanced support and the launch of new projects to strengthen the security of Ukraine and all of Europe," the press center of the Ministry of Defense quoted the minister as saying.
The Ramstein meeting in London on September 9, scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Kyiv time, will be held online.
British Defense Minister John Healey, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal will be present in person.
The previous, 29th, meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group also took place online.
After the change of power, the US, UK, and Germany took over the leadership of Ramstein.
On September 6, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Ukraine's expectations from the 30th Ramstein meeting.
According to him, it is important for Ukraine to significantly strengthen its air defense to protect its skies from Russian attacks.
The previous Ramstein meeting took place on July 21. At that time, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense called for $6 billion to be provided to Kyiv to close the gap in procurement this year.
Ramstein
Over 50 countries are involved in Ramstein, or the Contact Group on Defense Support for Ukraine. The main task of Ramstein is to coordinate assistance to Ukraine in countering Russian aggression.
The United States initiated the creation of the platform, and the first meeting took place on April 26, 2022, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany — the format was named after this location.
The meetings of the platform's participants have repeatedly yielded positive results for Ukraine, with a number of decisions being made on the supply of modern Western-style weapons.
Thanks to the decision of the Ramstein participating countries, the Armed Forces of Ukraine received HIMARS systems, Patriot air defense systems, Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks, and other military equipment.
