Washington [US], March 20: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has promised Ukraine continued international support in its defensive against Russia.
"Our message today is clear: the United States will not let Ukraine fail, this coalition will not let Ukraine fail, and the free world will not let Ukraine fail," Austin said on Tuesday at the start of a Ukraine conference at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
"Let's not fool ourselves," Austin said on the 755th day of the war, adding: Russian President Vladimir Putin "will not stop at Ukraine." "But as President [Joe] Biden said: Ukraine can stop Putin - if we stand by Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself." Ukraine will also be helped to build a future army, Austin said.
"This will ensure long-term security." He spoke of capability coalitions, in which several countries work together on drones, for example. "We will not let up," Austin told the conference. He had once again invited high-ranking military officers and defence ministers from around 50 member countries of the Ukraine Contact Group to the sixth conference of this kind in Ramstein.
Germany will support Kiev in its defence against Russia in the short term with further deliveries of ammunition, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said during the conference. To this end, 10,000 artillery shells from Bundeswehr stocks will be delivered, he said. The package is worth around 500 million euros ($543mn), which means that Germany has already provided 7 billion euros worth of support to Kiev this year.
In addition, 100 armoured vehicles for the infantry and 100 transport vehicles will be delivered as part of the package, Pistorius said.
The 500 million euros include money that Germany is giving for a Czech ammunition initiative, which will finance the purchase of 180,000 pieces of artillery ammunition.
Germany also wants to contractually regulate 100,000 pieces of ammunition nationally. "Here, too, deliveries to Ukraine are to begin this year," explained the minister. The 180,000 pieces are therefore medium-term aid from the summer, the 100,000 pieces long-term aid, he said.
Source: Qatar Tribune