U.S. Defense Secretary Austin opens Ramstein meeting

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday, May 20, launched the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, delivering a traditional opening speech.

This is already the 22nd meeting in the so-called Ramstein format, this time is being held in video conference mode, Ukrinform's own correspondent reports.

"We’re meeting at a moment of challenge. Putin's invaders have launched another offensive onto sovereign Ukraine territory. And the Kremlin's forces will try to make further advances in the weeks ahead and try to carve out a buffer zone along the Ukrainian border," the head of the Pentagon noted.

He emphasized that the latest Russian offensive toward Kharkiv further underscores the importance of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. In addition, Austin noted that Russia continues to intensively bombard Ukrainian cities.

"So, air defense will be high on our agenda today, and I'll be urging all of our valued allies and partners to reassess their ability to get Ukraine the air-defense capabilities that it so urgently needs," the U.S. Defense Secretary noted.

He added that Monday's meeting would focus on coordinating coalition capabilities. In particular, the participants will hear the reports of the Maritime Coalition leaders, as well as those of the integrated Air and Missile Defense Coalition.

Chiefs of defense from about 50 countries are taking part in the conference meeting.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meets on a monthly basis. The first such meeting was held on April 26, 2022 at the American Ramstein Air Base in Germany, which gave this format of military support to Ukraine its informal name.