(Finance) – In the American base of Ramsteinin Germany, kicks off todayeighth meeting of the contact group for theUkraine led by the USA, which brings together around 50 countries, including NATO allies and other partners. Also present was the Italian Defense Minister, I drive Crosetti. “We need to move from words to deeds as soon as possible”, he said, underlining that each nation will contribute by providing military equipment (anti-missile batteries and land vehicles) to help the Ukrainian defense deal with the worsening conflict that is likely to occur in the coming months . Civilian material will also be sent, such as generators, tents and clothing.
“Every day is important to resolve the current crisis. We expect in the coming weeks a tightening of warfare with an exponential increase in land attacks that will add to those missiles brought from Russia in the latter period”, added Crosetto, recalling that the Russians have trained as well 300,000 new recruits. Crosetto then ensured that theItaly he will play his part during an interview with the Secretary General of NATO on the sidelines of the Ramstein summit Jens Stoltenberg. “We will not leave you alone in the face of cowardly aggression. We stand and will remain alongside the Ukrainian people in defense of democracy and freedom,” the minister told his Ukrainian colleague, Oleksii Rezhnikov.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austinfrom Ramstein let it be known that the United States expects a counteroffensive from Ukraine in the spring. “We have a window of opportunity until spring. As soon as they start their operations, their counter-offensive,” he told reporters at a meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Ramstein, Germany. “It’s not a long time and we need to bring together the right skills,” she added.
Lastly, a senior EU official announced that the high representative for EU foreign policy, Josep Borrellduring next Monday’s foreign affairs council he will ask the political ok from the 27 member countries for a new tranche of 500 million euro military aid to Ukraine, again through theEuropean Peace Facility (EPF). Furthermore, another 45 million euros will be requested for the European military training mission in favor of the Ukrainian armed forces.