Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Western backers to speed up deliveries of air defense systems to counter Russian missile strikes and to help boost weapons production.
Zelenskky told a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels via video link that the emphasis should be on U.S.-made Patriot systems,
Urging representatives of around 50 countries to make good on past pledges, he said, “These are the most effective way to force Russia to stop its missile strikes and terror.”
Zelenskyy also appealed to the participants to buy weapons direct from Ukraine. “Ukrainian industry still has significant untapped capacity, it just needs financing,” he said, stressing that a funding gap for weapons procurement amounts to about $18 billion.
The UK, which chaired the meeting along with Germany, said that it plans a tenfold increase in drone production to help Ukraine. Drones have become a decisive factor in the war, now in its fourth year.
Lithuanian Defense Minister, Dovile Sakaliene said that “you recognize true friends not during a party, but when you do have difficult times.” He added, “So therefore, our continuation of support for Ukraine and increasing it is of utmost importance.”
Since the contact group was formed, Ukraine’s backers have collectively provided around $126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including more than $66.5 billion from the U.S.
US Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth did not attend today’s meeting, the first time a Pentagon Chief has been absent since the forum for organizing Ukraine’s military aid was set up three years ago.
Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the group after Russia launched all-out war on Ukraine in 2022.
His absence is the latest step that the Trump administration has taken to distance itself from Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to U.N. estimates, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.
The United States hasn’t chaired a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group since the Trump administration took office in January.
European NATO allies are concerned that the U.S. might withdraw troops from Europe to focus on the Indo-Pacific. French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that abandoning Ukraine would erode U.S. credibility in deterring any conflict with China over Taiwan.
Ukraine’s Allies Offer To Pay For Its Defence Manufacturing
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defence Minister, Rustem Umerov said after meeting Western counterparts at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group that Ukraine’s allies voiced willingness to pay for defence manufacturing by Ukrainian companies in allied countries.
Umerov did not specify the potential value of such an offer.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said he would like $30 billion from allies to cover Ukraine’s shortfall in defence manufacturing capacity.“Our partners said they are willing to fully pay for all the production from these factories, and that … (they) will appropriate even more funding for this,” Umerov told a press conference in Brussels.
Umerov said that the initiative did not have a proper name yet, but was for the moment called the “Ramstein Investment to Industries Initiative.”
He said all Ukrainian defence products produced abroad under licence during the war will go to Ukraine.
Umerov also said Ukraine had experienced difficulties in purchasing Chinese DJI Mavic camera drones, often used for battlefield reconnaissance. He said that Ukraine was working on a home-grown substitute.
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