For the fourth time, the Contact Group is meeting today at the US military base in Ramstein, Germany, to update the coordination of international defense aid to Ukraine, and the main concern of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is Obtain the necessary platforms so that the shipment of already committed weapons and ammunition can be carried out smoothly. “Logistics may seem more boring than the new announcements for the shipment of weapons, but at this moment it is extremely important,” he said when he arrived at the military complex.
“Wars are unpredictable, no one can know when this one will end and we must prepare for a long-term effort,” he said, repeating over and over again that “we will support the defense of Ukraine for as long as necessary” and that “we need a perspective in the long term to maintain that support, the ability to implement the decisions that are made in the Contact Group”, whose objective is to coordinate the military and economic aid that Ukraine’s allies send to Kiev from abroad.
Stoltenberg has noted that when he talks about a long-term perspective, he is referring to a concrete strategy of the Contact Group.
“In February 2014, after the illegal annexation of Crimea, things did not end there. Last February the offensive continued… now we must do things so that it does not continue, we have to think in the long term, projects that last for years,” he said, “we cannot know when this war will end, but we have to make sure that that after her something like this cannot happen again» and that is what the efforts of the Contact Group are focused on. “We need a discussion on Ukraine’s future security framework,” he said.
This does not mean that the Contact Group will stop sending weapons to Ukraine. Stoltenberg has advanced that the debate on the transfer of new defense systems and also combat aircraft continues.
“We need to make sure that Ukraine has the deterrence capability to prevent further attacks,” he said. He has advanced that he awaits new official announcements of arms shipments from the Netherlands and Denmark, which have agreed to jointly purchase 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks to send to the front. The tanks, which will be delivered in the first quarter of 2024, have a total estimated cost of 165 million euros, which will be divided equally.
“Our two nations will continue to explore other potential areas to jointly provide additional capabilities to support Ukraine. We are determined to help her for as long as it is necessary,” the two countries have reiterated. Stoltenberg also recalled that the United States has announced a new military aid package of 325 million dollars. The Pentagon has specified in a statement that in this package there are also TOW anti-tank missiles, 155 and 105-millimeter artillery projectiles, four logistics support vehicles, anti-tank mines or more than nine million cartridges for small arms, among others. “This new security assistance will allow Ukraine to continue to bravely defend itself against Russia’s brutal, unprovoked and unwarranted war,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Stoltenberg also expects some upcoming announcement from Canada.
The NATO Secretary General has reiterated the message he carried on his recent visit to Kiev, from where he flew directly to Germany: “Ukraine’s future lies in the Euro-Atlantic family, I said it yesterday and I will repeat it as necessary, but Ukraine should still work on that integration, with our support, but right now the priority is to win this war, it is above and ahead of any debate on membership, more than anything because if Ukraine loses its sovereignty, that debate will no longer It would make no sense.” The NATO Secretary General has reassured Zelensky, acknowledging that “all NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will be a member of the Alliance”, but he has also stressed that “now the main focus is for Ukraine to prevail”.
