The Minister of Defense, Oleksiy Reznikov, on Facebook, wrote about the details of the meeting of the Advisory Group on the defense of Ukraine with 40 participant countries in Germany.
The head of the Ministry of Defense said that three blocks of issues were considered, such as short-term operational decisions to help Ukraine repel russian aggression and a long-term vision of strengthening our defense given strategic challenges.
First. The Advisory Group on Defense of Ukraine was instituted. It will operate permanently and will meet monthly.
“The permanent mechanism will allow optimizing and speeding up the processes of receiving weapons, improving the logistics and ensuring effective coordination. For instance, when the decision to provide Ukraine with a certain type of weapons is made, the weapons of the same type will arrive from different countries due to coordination. Meanings, several countries will each provide 3-4 cannons each and all together Ukraine will receive an artillery division,” Reznikov stated.
Second. There was a decision on transitioning to NATO calibers and equipment.
“This is a strategic decision which was finally made. In particular, we are already receiving 155mm artillery… Gradually it will provide full interoperability of the Ukrainian army with the armies of NATO countries, which will be a significant strengthening of the Alliance's eastern flank. I will not hide - three months ago, this task was considered almost impossible. But thanks to the courage and professionalism of Ukrainian soldiers, the resilience of the Ukrainian people, everything has changed," the minister explained.
“In general, “transition” was the key word of the meeting at Ramstein. The transition started 30 years ago and is now reaching its final point. We talked a lot about weapons and military equipment production and Ukraine’s place in these processes. Because this is the basis of long-term cooperation, interaction, and interoperability not only of the armed forces but also of the defense industry," Reznikov added.
Third. Defenders of Ukraine have been mastering Western weapons for some time.
“We have not advertised this work to provide comfort for our partners. Now the training programs will be scaled up and extended even to those models of weapons and equipment for which there are no political decisions yet to provide them to Ukraine. When these decisions are made, I personally have no doubt they will; we will be ready. By the way, we already have an interesting experience. Our artillerymen, training on 155-mm howitzers at a test site in one of the countries, hit the target with the first shot. And then they helped foreign colleagues to improve the computer program which operates this howitzer, which made the right impression. After all, our soldiers have behind them the experience of war, real battles, where life is the price of error,” Reznikov explained.
The Minister of Defense also stated that there are several difficult weeks ahead. Practical realization of the agreements, training, and logistics need some time. And russia has already concentrated its forces for a large-scale offensive in the east of Ukraine.
Reznikov assured that the support for Ukraine would increase.
“The enemy is already aware of its strategic defeat but will still try to inflict as much pain on us. Unfortunately, we will still lose our soldiers until the victory. There will be destruction and painful casualties. We must endure. And we will endure!" - said the Defense Minister.
On April 26, a strategic meeting of the Advisory Group on Ukraine's Defense was held in Germany at the US Air Force Base Rammstein with more than 40 countries, including those that are not members of NATO. In his speech, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the meeting historic, noting that its goal was to help Ukraine win the war launched by the russian invasion and prepare Ukraine's defense capabilities for future challenges.
He said that after he visited Kyiv, he was convinced of the urgency of Ukraine's defense needs, noting that many capitals share this opinion.