By BRUSSELS. Sept 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urged partners to do everything possible to prepare Ukraine to repel further Russian aggression in the light of the approaching winter.
He said this at a press conference on Tuesday after the meeting of the Contact Group of the Defense of Ukraine, which was held in Ramstein (Germany). The newly appointed Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustam Umerov took part in the meeting for the first time.
He said that at today’s meeting he called on allies and partners to dig deeper and donate any defense ammunition they can as Ukraine approaches a new winter of war.
Austin recalled that last winter Russia destroyed Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, trying in vain to use the cold and darkness to break the will of the Ukrainian people. The Minister also pointed out that Russia, having first withdrawn from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, began to launch air strikes on grain infrastructure.
According to him, air defense will continue to be Ukraine’s greatest need to protect the sky, civilians and its cities.
In addition, Austin called on his fellow ministers to once again examine their stocks of 155-millimeter ammunition and key air defense and interceptor systems to ensure that they all give everything possible to prepare Ukraine for the coming winter. At the same time, he said, long-term support for Ukraine will continue to develop through coalitions like the ones they started with armored vehicles training, F16 training and information technology. Austin said that these important coalitions would help Ukraine continue to create reliable combat forces for the future.
