Check ammunition stocks
USA warns of “urgent need” for air defense for Kiev
September 19, 2023, 8:28 p.m
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At meetings of Ukraine supporters, the US is calling on the more than 50 countries to once again go deep into their ammunition storage facilities and check their stocks. Ukraine is facing a tough winter. Washington also announces that it will quickly deliver the promised tanks.
The US has called on allies and partners to continue supporting Ukraine as winter approaches. At a Ukraine conference at the US air force base in Ramstein, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin highlighted the “urgent need” for investment in air defense. He called on the allies to donate as much ammunition to Ukraine for air defense as possible. He also urged his colleagues to re-examine their stocks of 155-millimeter ammunition, key air defense systems and interceptors “to ensure that we are all doing everything in our power to prepare Ukraine for the coming winter.”
Austin invited senior military officials and defense ministers from around 50 member countries of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group to the fifth conference of this kind in Ramstein, Palatinate. Germany also belongs to this group. It was the 15th meeting in total in the so-called Ramstein format and the 5th at the US air force base since April 2022. According to the Federal Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian demand for long-range Taurus cruise missiles from Germany played no role.
He saw the support as a “fight to prevent a dark new era of chaos and tyranny,” Austin continued. It’s not just about fighting for the survival of an embattled democracy. It’s also about fighting for a world in which the rules are followed and autocrats cannot simply redraw the borders by force.
Austin announced that the M1 Abrams main battle tanks already promised by the USA should be delivered to Ukraine “soon”. The US government announced in January that it would deliver 31 Abrams to Ukraine. In March, the Pentagon finally spoke of a planned delivery in the fall. The USA would also take part in training Ukrainian pilots on Western F-16 fighter planes, he emphasized.
“200,000 to 300,000” Russian soldiers of Ukraine
Outgoing US Chief of Staff Mark Milley said at his last conference that Ukraine had broken through “multiple layers” of Russian defenses. It was “not particularly surprising” that the counteroffensive was taking longer than planned on the drawing board, he added. There are still “200,000 to 300,000” Russian soldiers in the occupied territories of Ukraine, Milley explained. Most of them are poorly trained and poorly cared for, “but they are there”.
The Czech Republic, Denmark and the Netherlands announced further joint efforts to supply arms to Ukraine. Initially, 15 modernized Soviet-made T-72EA main battle tanks would be delivered, the Czech Defense Ministry said. Further armored vehicles, air defense and ammunition are to follow.
The new Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov took part in the meeting for the first time. Austin thanked his predecessor Oleksiy Reznikov, who was dismissed from office at the beginning of September, for “his hard work and dedication” and “everything he did for a free Ukraine in a safe world.” Umerov said he briefed his colleagues on the latest developments on Ukraine’s battlefields, as well as Ukraine’s “urgent needs” as it prepares for winter. He didn’t give any details. In addition, an “IT coalition” was created to ensure a resilient IT infrastructure for the Ukrainian armed forces.