Defense officials from Western nations gathered at a US military base in Germany at a time they call a “dynamic moment” in Ukraine’s fight against Russia. They welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the meeting at Ramstein Air Base on Friday, and he asked for more aid.
Zelenskyy has been calling on his allies to supply the air defense systems they have promised, more F-16 fighter jets and looser restrictions on weapons that can strike from far away. He said, “We need to have this long-range capability not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russian territory — yes — so that Russia is motivated to seek peace.”
US Defense Secretary Llyod Austin pressed his colleagues to step up support with winter on the way to fight off what he calls “Putin’s malice.” He said: “If tyrants think that they can invade peaceful neighbors, we will all be less secure. If autocrats conclude that nations of goodwill will lose their nerve, will lose our nerve and abandon our principles, our world will become far more dangerous.”
Austin announced that the US will provide an additional 250 million dollars. However, he pushed back on the idea that long-range strikes alone can turn the tide of the war, saying that any single capability would not be “decisive.”