USA: Ukraine's Partners Raised $5 Billion in Military Aid

The US Army base in Ramstein, Germany, hosts 40 defense ministers of NATO countries and invited states to discuss efforts to support Ukraine in the war with Russia. On Tuesday, April 26, a meeting of defense ministers from more than 40 partner states of Ukraine, including NATO countries and representatives of other invited states, began in Germany at the Ramstein military base, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said opening the meeting. "Your resistance inspired the free world," said the head of the Pentagon, addressing the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov who was present at the meeting. According to Austin, the partners are "at a record pace" increasing the speed with which they support Kyiv in the fight for their country. Partner countries have already raised about $ 5 billion in military aid to Ukraine, of which $ 3.7 billion is allocated by the US administration, Austin added. The head of the Pentagon, "Ukraine strongly believes that it can win, and everyone here is of the same belief." Russia's war against Ukraine is "entering a new phase," the Pentagon chief added. "Ukraine strongly believes that it can win, and everyone here thinks so," Lloyd Austin said. The announced purpose of the meeting in Ramstein is to coordinate and increase efforts to provide security assistance to Ukraine, "bearing in mind the concentration of hostilities in the Donbas and in the south of Ukraine," the Pentagon chief added. In particular, at the beginning of the meeting in Ramstein, the German Ministry of Defense issued a written statement of its intention to send Cheetah self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine. The US Air Force base in Ramstein in southwestern Germany, where the meeting of defense ministers of Ukraine's partner countries is taking place, is the largest US Air Force facility outside the country, where about 9,000 military personnel are permanently stationed. DW