Defense ministers and military officials from all over the world are meeting today at the US air base Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate for talks on further support for Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has invited members of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group to the conference at the largest US air base outside the United States.
According to a report in “Spiegel”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to join the talks. Zelensky will also meet with 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 to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses. The contact group includes around 50 states, including Germany. As in previous talks at the base near Kaiserslautern, non-NATO states were also invited. It is the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, but most of the talks were held as video conferences. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine since February 24, 2022. The West is supporting Kiev in its defense, including with extensive arms deliveries.
Russian attacks at night
During the night of Friday, 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. A fire broke out near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv after a drone attack was repelled, Mayor Andriy Sadowyj announced on Telegram in the morning. There was initially no information on the extent of the damage or on the number of injured.
Governor: Houses damaged in Russian border town
According to official information from Russia, the Ukrainian armed forces shelled the Russian border town of Shebekino three times in the evening. 15 private houses were damaged, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on his Telegram channel. A factory roof was also damaged. Fires broke out in several places. The exact extent of the damage will be assessed in daylight. There was initially no information on possible victims.
Selenskyj 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. Before the Ramstein meeting, Zelensky pointed to the main needs in the war against Russia and mentioned air defense, armored vehicles, artillery and electronic warfare systems at Platform X. The Ukrainian president also stressed that his country urgently needs permission from its partners to attack the airfields from which Russia is firing missiles at Ukraine.
Shortly before the meeting, Romania decided to give its neighbouring country one of its Patriot air defence systems. Zelensky thanked Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who had signed the decision passed by parliament in Bucharest shortly before. 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 to Ukraine – this is exactly the package that was decided at the NATO summit in Washington in July,” Zelensky said in his evening video address with a view 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 Defence in London before the Ramstein meeting. Defence Minister John Healey will announce the package, worth 162 million pounds (192 million euros), at the meeting, it said in a statement. It will be financed primarily from Great Britain’s three billion pounds (3.5 billion euros) annual support for Ukraine.
“This new commitment will provide a major boost to Ukraine’s air defences and demonstrate 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 arms 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 wide range of threats, including drones, armored vehicles and smaller ships, according to London.
Selenskyj calls for rapid implementation of decisions
Zelensky demanded that partners implement announcements and decisions as quickly as possible. “If decisions are made quickly, Russia has no time to adapt and we achieve particularly valuable results,” he said. This applies to protecting Ukraine from attacks, supporting Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines 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 not depend on the madness of certain Putins,” Zelensky said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Regarding the fighting, the Ukrainian president said: “The main task is to eliminate as many of the occupying forces as possible.” The Ukrainian defense lines have been strengthened.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240906-930-224587/1
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