'We will not let up': US vows to continue support for Ukraine

DPA
·2 min read
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (L) and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umjerow attend the consultations of the US-led Ukraine Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base. Numerous defense ministers and high-ranking military officers are discussing further support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. Uwe Anspach/dpa
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (L) and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umjerow attend the consultations of the US-led Ukraine Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base. Numerous defense ministers and high-ranking military officers are discussing further support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. Uwe Anspach/dpa
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has promised Ukraine continued international support in its defensive against Russia.

"Our message today is clear: the United States will not let Ukraine fail, this coalition will not let Ukraine fail, and the free world will not let Ukraine fail," Austin said on Tuesday at the start of a Ukraine conference at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

"Let's not fool ourselves," Austin said on the 755th day of the war, adding: Russian President Vladimir Putin "will not stop at Ukraine."

"But as President [Joe] Biden said: Ukraine can stop Putin - if we stand by Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself."

Ukraine will also be helped to build a future army, Austin said. "This will ensure long-term security." He spoke of capability coalitions, in which several countries work together on drones, for example.

"We will not let up," Austin told the conference.

He had once again invited high-ranking military officers and defence ministers from around 50 member countries of the Ukraine Contact Group to the sixth conference of this kind in Ramstein.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who is also taking part in the conference warned on Tuesday against losing sight of Ukraine's essential defence needs.

Sufficient artillery ammunition, longer-range missile artillery and air defence are the truly existential issues, the minister said on broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Tuesday morning.

Russia has been waging a war against neighbouring Ukraine since February 24, 2022. The West is supporting Kiev in its defence with extensive arms deliveries, among other things.