Zelensky's visit to Ramstein secures air defense, weapons for Ukraine.
Ukraine received pledges of more military aid from allies, including the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Canada, during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) on Sept.
6, which President Volodymyr Zelensky attended in person. The U.S.-led group, consisting of over 50 countries, including all 32 NATO members, convenes at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The meeting on Sept.
6 is the group's 24th gathering since its establishment in April 2022. Zelensky last attended the meeting in person in October 2023. The U.S. pledged a new aid package for Ukraine worth £250 million.
The tranche includes RIM-7 missiles and support for air defense, Stinger missiles, ammunition for HIMARS, and other military assistance. Ahead of the summit, the U.K. announced it would supply Ukraine with a new military aid package consisting of 650 Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) worth over £213 million. The first LMM missiles are expected to be delivered by the end of this year.
On the sidelines of the meeting, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Berlin would deliver an additional 12 self-propelled Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers with a range of over 30 kilometers (under 20 miles) worth 150 million euros (£165 million) to Kyiv. The guns would come from the industry deliveries rather than standing German military stocks. Six of them are due to arrive by the end of 2024, and the rest will be delivered in 2025, Pistorius said.
Germany also pledged to deliver 77 older Leopard 1A5 tanks in cooperation with Denmark and the Netherlands in the near future. A new defense aid package was also announced by Canada, including 80,840 motors of decommissioned small air-to-surface unguided rockets CRV7, along with 1,300 warheads. Spain will provide Ukraine with a HAWK air defense system battery, Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced.
The system consists of six missile launchers and is already located in Poland. Kyiv is also expected to receive maintenance equipment and materials for F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands, as well as air-to-air missiles that the aircraft can use to repel Russian attacks, according to Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans. The meeting in Ramstein comes a month after Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast.
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Ukraine controls "a significant part of the territory," stretching over 1,300 square kilometers, including around 100 settlements, Zelensky said at the start of the summit. The Kursk incursion shows that "Russia's attempts to draw red lines simply do not work," Zelensky said.
Russia nonetheless continues to deploy its most effective units in Ukraine, primarily Donetsk Oblast, demonstrating a "clear choice by Moscow," he added. Russia's advance on Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub for Ukrainian forces in Donbas, has continued in the weeks since the Kursk incursion began. "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin doesn't care about Russian land and people, he just wants to grab as much of our land and as many of our cities as possible," Zelensky said. "He wants our cities, or the ruins that remain of them."
Kyiv has also been highlighting the need for air defense as Russian strikes continue to kill people in areas far from the front lines. A Russian ballistic missile strike against Poltava killed 55 people and injured over 300 others. A day later, at least seven civilians were killed and 64 wounded in Lviv in the west of Ukraine.
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As Russian troops approach Pokrovsk, fear mounts over a possible loss of what had long been a key logistic hub tucked away in safety in Donetsk Oblast.
The war has arrived in Pokrovsk, once home to 60,000 people, with the Russians estimated to be about eight kilometers away.
Thousands
