Conference of Western allies with Ukraine president credit: @SecDef
During the opening session of an extraordinary international gathering at the American airbase in Ramstein, Germany, on Tuesday U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Western allies are prepared to get Ukraine more weapons and munitions so it can continue to fight Russia’s “unjust invasion.”
The one-day conference involved more than 40 countries, including Canada’s Defence Minister Anita Anand, and was meant to get NATO and other partner nations to agree to meet Ukraine’s immediate defense needs.
Tuesday’s meeting was attended by more than a dozen countries that are not NATO members including Japan and Israel.
“This gathering reflects the galvanized world,” Austin said in prepared remarks at the beginning of the conference. “Ukraine clearly believes it can win and so does everyone here.”
Allied nations have collaborated and sent roughly $5 billion worth of military equipment to Ukraine since the invasion began on Feb. 24, with the United States accounting for the lion’s share of that total: $3.7 billion.
Many top Western military commanders, including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre attended the one-day conference.
Following the one-day conference, Austin said allies would meet once a month going forward to monitor the progress.
Before going for participating in the meeting, Anand stopped to speak to reporters and discussed Canada’s shipments of weapons to Ukraine.
She also reiterated last week’s announcement that her government plans to send the Ukrainians modern artillery and ammunition.
#Germany; #LloydAustin; #AnitaAnand
