Russia Contact group discusses aid for Ukraine in Ramstein

Defense ministers and military leaders from around the world are meeting today at Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate to discuss further support for Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has invited the members of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group to the conference at the largest US airbase outside the United States.

According to a "Spiegel" report, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also to join the talks. Selenskyj will also meet with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in Frankfurt am Main in the early afternoon, a government spokesman said in the evening.

Discussions are expected in Ramstein on how Ukraine's air defense can be strengthened. Around 50 countries, including Germany, belong to the contact group. As with previous talks at the base near Kaiserslautern, non-NATO states have also been invited. This is the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, although most of the talks were held as video conferences. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine since 24 February 2022. The West is supporting Kiev in its defense with extensive arms deliveries, among other things.

Russian attacks during the night

On Friday night, the Ukrainian air force again reported a number of Russian attacks with combat drones and missiles in large parts of the country. Explosions were reportedly heard in the Kharkiv region in the east, in the north-eastern border region of Sumy and in Vinnytsia in the west. There was a fire near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv (Lemberg) after a drone attack was repelled, Mayor Andrij Sadowyj announced on Telegram in the morning. There was initially no information on the extent of the damage or injuries.

Governor: Houses in Russian border town damaged

According to official information from Russia, the Ukrainian armed forces shelled the Russian border town of Shebekino three times in the evening. The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced on his Telegram channel that 15 private houses had been damaged. A factory roof was also damaged. There were fires in several places. The exact extent of the damage is to be assessed in daylight. There was initially no information on possible victims.

Selensky discusses cooperation with Macron

In the evening, Zelensky discussed further cooperation in the defense sector with French President Emmanuel Macron, a new military aid package from France and the possibility of joint production of certain weapons. Prior to the Ramstein meeting, Zelenskyi referred to the main needs in the war against Russia and named air defense, armored vehicles, artillery and electronic warfare systems on Platform X. The Ukrainian President also emphasized that his country urgently needs the permission of its partners to attack those airfields from which Russia launches missiles at Ukraine.

Shortly before the meeting, Romania decided to give the neighboring country one of its Patriot air defense systems. Selensky thanked the Romanian head of state, Klaus Iohannis, who had signed the resolution passed by the parliament in Bucharest shortly beforehand. This was a significant contribution to protecting Ukraine "from Russian missile terror".

"We expect our partners to implement a whole package of decisions on air defense and other assistance for Ukraine - this is exactly the package that was agreed at the NATO summit in Washington in July," said Selenskyj in his evening video address, referring to the Ramstein meeting.

London supplies anti-aircraft missiles

Great Britain is supplying Ukraine with 650 anti-aircraft missiles. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in London before the Ramstein meeting. Defense Minister John Healey will announce the package worth 162 million pounds (192 million euros) at the meeting, according to a statement. It will be funded primarily from the UK's three billion pounds (3.5 billion euros) annual support for Ukraine.

"This new pledge will give an important boost to Ukraine's air defenses and show the determination of our new government to increase support for Ukraine," the Labour politician said, according to the statement.

The so-called Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) are manufactured by the defense company Thales in Belfast and can be fired from land, sea and air. With a range of six kilometers and supersonic speed (Mach 1.5), they can be used to defend against a large number of threats, including drones, armored vehicles and smaller ships, according to London.

Selensky calls for rapid implementation of decisions

Selensky called on the partners to implement announcements and decisions as quickly as possible. "If decisions are made quickly, Russia will not have time to adapt and we will achieve particularly valuable results," he said. This applies to the protection of Ukraine from attacks, the support of Ukrainian soldiers on the front line and the resilience of the state as a whole. "And, in general, the resilience of the world, which wants to continue to live according to the rules, according to international law, and is not dependent on the madness of certain Putins," said Selensky, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Regarding the fighting, the Ukrainian president said: "The main task is to eliminate as many forces of the occupying forces as possible." The Ukrainian lines of defense have been strengthened.

SDA