German Defense Minister announces additional military assistance to Ukraine of over EUR 2 bln
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who is co-chairing the 31st meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (in the Ramstein format) together with his British counterpart John Healy, announced further military support for Ukraine, in particular in the field of air defense.
"We will continue and expand our support for Ukraine. With the new contracts, Germany will provide additional support worth more than EUR 2 billion. This includes a package totaling $500 million. The package addresses a number of urgent needs for Ukraine. It includes air defense systems, Patriot interceptors, radar systems, as well as high-precision artillery missiles and ammunition," he said, opening the Ramstein meeting.
Pistorius stressed that Germany will continue to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense through new contracts for the supply of two more IRIS-T air defense systems, including a large number of guided missiles, as well as portable air defense missiles.
"We will supply high-quality anti-tank weapons, communication equipment, as well as portable anti-aircraft missile systems," he added.
In addition, Germany will also launch a comprehensive project to modernize weapons systems already delivered to Ukraine and extend their service life.
"This ensures that the weapons systems we supply are adapted to the changing realities of the battlefield and can continue to be used reliably and effectively by the Ukrainian armed forces," the minister said.
At the same time, as Pistorius noted, Germany will continue to expand cooperation between the German and Ukrainian defense industries.
"We will emphasize this intention by concluding a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the defense industry, which will be signed by Denys [Defense Minister Shmyhal] and me after this meeting," Pistorius said.