The Contact Group on Defence of Ukraine, which includes almost 50 countries, held a meeting in Brussels today in the format of "Ramstein-3".
This was announced at a press conference following the meeting by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, Ukrinform reports.
Its participants stated they would provide military assistance in the fight against russian aggression for as long as necessary.
"One of the things I learned from this conference is the determination of all the participants ... They were ministers from all over the world, not just NATO allies. They have shown a very strong willingness to concentrate and join forces to give this struggle (Ukraine - ed.) additional capabilities," said Austin.
According to him, it is a matter of readiness to work with partner countries or use its industrial potential.
“So we will focus on this task for as long as it takes. Commitments from the countries we heard today were very encouraging," he said.
The first meeting of the defence ministers of 40 states took place on April 26 in Germany at the US Air Force base Ramstein. Oleksiy Reznikov, Chairman of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, took part in it. In his speech, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin called the meeting historic, noting that its goal is to help Ukraine win the war launched by the russian invasion and prepare its defence capabilities for future challenges.
On May 23, defence ministers from more than 40 countries convened for a second meeting on military assistance to Ukraine. The meeting was joined by countries that were not present at the summit in April: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Ireland and Kosovo. The meeting was attended by 44 defence ministers, including Oleksiy Reznikov and his team, as well as representatives of the EU and NATO.