Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov:

«The fourth meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group has taken place. This platform in support of Ukraine known as the Ramstein format was established thanks to US leadership and now unites 50 countries from all continents (except for Antarctica).

Together with Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Yevhen Moysyuk, and the Deputy Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, major general Vadym Skybytskyi, we informed the partners of the situation at the front and familiarized them with the current needs of the Ukrainian defense forces. The foregoing line-up of the Ukrainian team in Ramstein has already become traditional.

I am convinced that the partners should see with their own eyes the synergy of the defense department, our military command and intelligence. Unity is the source of our strength and a guarantee of our future victory over the russian invaders. 

As agreed with colleagues, we hold the intrigue regarding a lion’s share of existing and upcoming aid packages. Those include weapons and ammo, training of our soldiers and more. At first, the enemy will feel this aid on the battlefield. Positive signal from the meeting are new obligations of the partners concerning land, sea and sky.

I thanked the USA and personally a close friend of Ukraine and my friend, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, for his all-round support.

The next aid package from the US to be announced this week includes inter alia 4 M142 HIMARS systems that are already affecting the course of the war.

I would like to note that the American partners and as well as colleagues from other countries expressed their admiration for the skill of our soldiers, including the way they use artillery and HIMARSes.

Among other things, the meeting’s participants were presented with an overview of the results on the battlefield, namely the losses of russian invaders in manpower, equipment and military capabilities as a whole. These are impressive numbers which prove that Ukraine is indeed the shield of Europe. It is important that this overview was prepared specifically by the partners based on their data and evaluations.

In my speech, I emphasised on three priorities for Ukraine. Firstly, it is the strengthening of the mission-oriented approach. We ask the colleagues to concentrate their efforts on increasing the capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces to carry out certain missions.

One of them is unblocking our ports and ensuring safety in the western part of the Black Sea. Everyone saw the first results in the form of liberating Snake Island. The work continues. New “gestures of goodwill” from the invaders are possible.

Secondly, it is time to systematize the maintenance and repair of foreign equipment supplied to us. It is a large-scale task, and we are already talking about hundreds of units. We need coordination of many countries in the legal, financial and organizational sphere as well as at the level of production capacities.

Thirdly, we are increasing efforts to ensure transparency in registering and using international military aid. In particular, the implementation process of the NATO LOGFAS program will be accelerated.

I will also point out three things I have heard from colleagues.

Firstly, a number of countries directly stated that there was no fatigue from the war in Ukraine and no such thing would happen in the future. There is an understanding that the security of the whole Europe is at stake, not just Ukraine.

The whole world sees how our defenders hold the front line over 2 500 km long. It is like the distance between Warsaw to Barcelona. The perception of Ukraine as a shield of Europe in the east is getting clearer. Generally, there is the common position of Ramstein members to support Ukraine until its victory.

Secondly, it was numerously emphasized that time is of the essence. I stressed that in my speech. However, this thesis already exists in the agenda of those supporting us. We are doing everything to put all this into practice.

Thirdly, a lot of partners are ready to train our soldiers. It is an opportunity to get high-quality reserves that will master western weaponry behind front lines. Also, this will set the stage for increasing the amount of support.

We are working on Ukraine’s victory 24/7.

Glory to Ukraine!»