Pistorius at Ramstein: Germany to launch new 'deep strike' initiative, strengthen support for purchase of long-range UAVs
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who is co-chairing the 30th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (in the Ramstein format) together with his British counterpart John Healey, announced the launch of a new "deep strike" initiative and the strengthening of German support for the purchase of long-range drones with the Ukrainian defense industry.
"Germany will launch a new 'deep strike' initiative and strengthen its support for the procurement of long-range drones with the Ukrainian defense industry. As part of this initiative, we are concluding a number of contracts with Ukrainian companies for a total of EUR 300 million," he said, opening the meeting in the Ramstein format.
According to the minister, the contracts provide for the supply of several thousand long-range drones of various types of Ukrainian production. The contracts "are flexible and contain options to increase the number," Pistorius said.
The 30th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein) in a hybrid format started on Tuesday evening. In London, UK Defense Secretary John Healey, together with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal are present. Other participants joined the meeting online.
Earlier, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Shmyhal announced that he had arrived in London with his department's team for a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein). A number of negotiations with government officials of partner countries and private manufacturers are also planned.