WASHINGTON — Top US military leaders will be in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s war needs as Russia carries out one of its deadliest airstrikes in the conflict and Ukraine continues offensive in the Kursk region of Russia.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will host a meeting Friday at Ramstein Air Force Base of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, made up of military leaders from more than 50 countries that have regularly provided funds and weapons systems to strengthen Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
These countries are faced with renewed calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for additional air defense and relaxed restrictions on how far russia in Ukraine can fire American-supplied munitions. He has long urged allies to continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to ward off Russia.
The meeting comes after Russia this week used two ballistic missiles to target a military academy and a nearby hospital in Ukraine. more than 50 people killed and wounded more than 270 others in one of the deadliest attacks of the war.
“Air defense systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine, not in a warehouse somewhere,” Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel this week. “Long-range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now.”
So far, the Biden administration has maintained relatively tight control over how the missiles it supplies to Ukraine can be used. Ukraine can defensive shooting at Russian targets along the border, but the US bans its use deeper into Russia, out of concern that such an attack to further escalate the war.
There is no change in policy regarding the use of U.S.-supplied weapons by Ukraine, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday.
That the group of military leaders from Ukraine’s allies continue to meet and agree to send weapons is extraordinary, however. Global pressure on arms supplies has increased, and donors like the US face competing demands for that aid to security in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region.
Since 2022, member states have collectively provided about $106 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. The U.S. has provided more than $56 billion of that total.
The group’s meeting also comes at a time when Zelenskyy is a major reshuffle of its cabinet-level leaders. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, one of Ukraine’s most recognizable faces on the international stage, resigned Wednesday ahead of the expected shakeup.
Ukraine has also made a fundamental change in its war tactics, seizing Russian territory in the Kursk region in an offensive that began a few weeks ago. The Ukrainian military is trying to maintain control of that country as Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes his troops deeper into eastern Ukraine. Both sides are prepared for heavy fighting in the winter.
Both sides have been holed up for the past two winters, with Ukrainians facing harsh conditions without electricity or heating. Russia is targeting its electricity grid.