friends from the us defense secretary, what can we expect to hear from him? was a meeting at the ramstein usa base in western germany of defense ministers and top officials, military officials and so on from the alliance of countries that are supporting ukraine much bigger than natal. that's right. so there's many countries coming together to do what they can to find ways to provide concrete support. that's what the gradients have been saying. presidents lensky? keep saying and say that again. within the last few hours that ukraine needs concrete support to prosecute it's war it's been holding on. as we've seen, it was become a pretty much a war of attrition. and would like to launch some kind of counter offensive against russian forces. but that's going to be very difficult without more firepower. so this meeting is to discuss what the supporting countries can do.

and i think also to just make that demonstration of unity and determination. now you said that concrete measures, that's what ukraine expects from this contract. a contract group meeting. what could that be? i mean, you, you meant just mentioned firepower in general. but what exactly is it that ukraine needs? yeah. well, what i think ukraine would like is, you know, commitments of large amounts of heavy battle tanks. and they also, of course, repeatedly said that they would like more than fighter aircraft. neither of those 2 things is, is going to be forthcoming. certainly not from this meeting, but not any time soon because of course, they are not the sort of things you can produce very quickly. and it,

seeing the discussion within nato, at least there aren't countries that are willing to sort of give out large amounts of what they've already got. what we have seen is, for instance, the story about mig 20 nines, the old a soviet era fighter jets. they're still of some use for sure. poland has been sending those in particular, in some of the other eastern european countries that still have those aircraft in their forces. but, you know, europe fights is, or you know, the american plains. they're not going to be arriving in kiev. it would seem. so what is going well with talking? i think today at this meeting about munitions about the commitment that these countries have made to supply millions of rounds of munitions to the ukrainians during the coming months by the end of this year. and so that, that i think will be, will that will see some concrete numbers and concrete pledges around that. perhaps

i have to interrupt you here because the press conference of the u. s. defense secretary lloyd austin is about his stolid listening. shake your assistance with this with that secretary. thank sir frederick. good afternoon everyone. nearly one year ago, i 1st convene what became the ukraine defense contact group right here at ramstein . our goal wants to improve the coordination of our support for ukraine. as it fought back against russia was reckless and lawless invasion. over the past year, this contact group has become an extraordinary community of action. and together, we have rallied to defend the principles of democracy. and freedom and sovereignty

. so we're all back here at ramstein a year later to build on it for impressive progress. over the past year, the members of this contact group had provided tremendous capability to ukraine. right after russia invade it. we surged in javelins and staggers. and then we provided ukraine's defenders with howitzers and high mars in other artillery. and we continue to rush in ground based air defense capabilities and munitions to help you crane control it sovereign skies. and to help ukraine defend its citizens from russian cruise missiles. and iranian drones, our collective efforts have made a huge difference on the battlefield. and now in just a few short months, the contact group has delivered more than 230 tanks. more than

1550 armored vehicles and other equipment and munitions to support more than 9 new armored brigades. we've also expedited our in one abrams timelines to supply ukraine with more armored capability in the coming months. and the m ones that the ukrainians will use for trading arrive here in germany in the next few weeks. and all of this is huge progress. and i am confident that this equipment and the training that accompanied it. it will put ukraine's forces in a position to continue to succeed on the battlefield. ukraine's forces have formidable capability and courage, as we've seen throughout. and all this progress were pressed on the coordinate at

work of some 50 nations of good will. that have gathered again today. now, let me say just a few words about the reports of unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and classified us material. i take this matter extremely seriously. and we will continue to work closely with our deeply valued allies and partners in a spirit of abiding respect and friendship. as i have discussed this issue with our allies and partners, i been struck by their solidarity in their commitment to reject efforts to divide us. so nothing will fracture our unity or reduce our determination. now i am grateful to my good friend alexey regina cobb for joining us at ramstein.

and he once again gave us all a 1st hand account of the battlefield dynamics highlighting ukraine's most urgent needs in the critical months ahead. we also heard from my colleagues in us european command about the progress on building ukraine's combat power, as ukraine prepares to push back the lines of russian invade invaders. and we talked about key enablers, that will help ukraine repel russian forces, such as heavy equipment and transport vehicles and refuel ers and mine rollers. and i like to thank those here who announced donations of these important systems, including germany in the netherlands. we also discuss ways to intensify our sustainment and industrial based initiatives. now russia has continued its

assault on civilian targets and ukraine, including schools and theaters and apartment buildings. those targets have absolutely no military value whatsoever. so we're hoping ukraine defendant citizens and skies against russian missiles and iranian drones, many contact group members have stepped up with new air defense systems and critically needed ammunition for those systems. and we're going to stay focused on the key capabilities that ukraine needs right now. as well as in the medium term. now we also heard today from the european union on its proposal to speed up the production and delivery of ammunition for ukraine. in more countries are thinking about how they can increase industrial production. not just for the near term,

but also for the medium term in the long term. and that is a powerful reminder that we stand with ukraine's defenders for the long haul. it open made a series of grave miscalculations when he ordered the invasion of ukraine more than a year ago. he thought that ukraine wouldn't dare to fight back, but ukraine is standing strong with the help of its partners. putting thought that our unity would fracture. but russia's cruel war of choice has only brought us closer together. and i note that finland, which has long taken part in this contact group, is here today as a new nato ally. i expect a sweden will soon follow. and that makes something crystal clear.

boons or choice is not the result of nato enlargement. putin's war is a cause of nato's enlargement. you know, when i 1st convened this contact group, i saw nations of goodwill that were eager to help ukraine resist russia's imperial aggression. i saw a coalition that stood united and firm i saw countries determined to stand up for an open and secure world of rights in rules and all that was just as true at ramstein today. as it was a year ago. you can ukrainians are still standing strong in their fight for their freedom and they have the courage and the capability for the road ahead and we

will have their bags for as long as it takes. so with that, i'll turn it over to german. they secretary and i wanna start off by thanking checks, a austin for his leadership a little past year in this 11th ukrainian defense contact group, which has resulted in enormous support to ukraine, not only from the countries of europe, but really from the globe. and it wouldn't be happening without citizens leadership . so thank you, sir. and thanks also to the ministers and chase of defense from over 50 countries that attended today and have consistently attended now for a year. and their participation in support is critical to the capability of the training military to defend itself. it's been nearly a year since 2nd day. austin began as contact group right here, ramstein. and this form has been vital to coordinate and synchronized to support continued international support to ukraine. i also want to thank you. training and

minister defense resident. gov and and my colleague and partner chief of defense generals hallucinate whom i've had a chance to contact in the last a week or so. and his representative here, joe, moist suit for their continued leadership. i also congratulate finland on their recession into nato. this historic event marks a deepening of the nato alliance and reaffirms to the world the strength of this relationship. but this is not just about the united states and european security nato in his contact group helped to uphold something bigger than that. they uphold the global international order. we're all nations can live in peace and can prosper . a world that respects sovereignty in the rule of law, a world that counters unbridled, military aggression. 421 days ago, putin thought he could overthrow the craning government body could fracture nato, as he launched an unprovoked war of aggression with hundreds of thousands of

russian forces. crossing the border and multiple avenues of approach, he was wrong. ukraine spared remains on broken. there are now 31 members of nato. and nato was even stronger and united in the face of russia's aggression and its attack on the rules based order. united states and the members of this contact group remain committed to supporting ukraine is a fight for freedom against russia's illegal, an unprovoked invasion. to date, the united states is committed more than $35000000.00 in military assistance, including over $2000000.00 tank and artillery rounds, tens of thousands of an i armor weapon systems, air defense systems, and other forms of munitions, hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles. precision ariel munitions and counter you ask capabilities. in addition, there's about 2500 ukranian soldiers conducting training right now in germany.

another 8800, almost 9000 have completed training and a return to ukraine. and there are 65 ukrainians that completed training on patient missile systems. just recently, sincerely, phases of this war. and for every month since the united states has provided ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself. and in conjunction with our allies and partners, we have delivered. this coalition will continue to provide vital training and additional capabilities for air defense and maneuver to enable ukraine's ongoing fight. air defense, munitions, in defense capabilities tank, munitions, armored vehicle capabilities, artillery ammunition, artillery tubes, and rockets and spare parts remain critical as ukraine protected cities and expels the russian menace from its territory or countries in the countries of europe. a pledge the ukraine will have the capabilities, it needs execute, emissions on their own timeline,

and we have pledged that support for as long as it takes us. the secretary just said this week, united states announced our latest security assistance package as part of our ongoing commitment to ukraine as we standard at 80 ukrainian military continues to perform very well, intent, fighting around bach, mac continues and has for several months. russia is expanding significant manpower for very little gain. russia is intensifying, indiscriminate shelling in a vicar and other cities and urban areas. and russia continues to pay severely for its war of choice on like ukrainian forces who are highly motivated to fight for their country to fight for their freedom, their democracy in their way of life. the russians lack in leadership, they lack will. the morale is poor. and the discipline is eroding. russia has resorted to tightening conscription laws as they indiscriminately feed their citizens.