RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, GERMANY — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday told allies and partners in Germany that it would be “crazy to drop the ball now” and end support Ukraine against Russia.
“It’s clear that a new chapter starts for Europe and the entire world just 11 days from now,” Zelenskyy told the Ukraine Defense Contact Group during opening remarks in Ramstein Germany, referring to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration as president.
“We have to cooperate even more, rely on one another even more and achieve even greater results together,” he said. “No matter what’s going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased of the map.”
As Ukrainians fight continuing Russian assaults, international support for their fight is uncertain. Trump has not indicated whether he will continue America’s leadership of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group when President Joe Biden leaves office January 20.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the group of about 50 nations has provided Kyiv with more than $126 billion in weapons, training and equipment. The U.S. has provided about $66 billion, slightly more than half of the group’s aid.
The group came together under U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s leadership to coordinate security assistance after the invasion.
Austin on Thursday announced a $500 million in additional weapons and equipment for Kyiv, which officials say will be the final military aid package before Biden leaves office.
He said the package includes additional missiles for Ukrainian air defense, more artillery ammunition, more air-to-ground munitions and equipment to support Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets.
The additional U.S. weapons and equipment are being pulled from the Pentagon’s existing military stockpiles.
Austin, who is hosting the group for the last time, said leading the group has been “one of the great honors of my life.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius thanked Austin for his leadership on behalf of the allies and partners present.
“Your personal dedication has made a major difference. Without you, your commitment and your leadership. Ukraine’s fight for freedom would not have yielded the same results,” he told Austin.
Austin and defense analysts have warned that failing to continue coordinated support for Ukraine could prove catastrophic.
“If tyrants learn that aggression pays, we will only invite even more aggression, chaos and war, but we are still determined to not let that happen,” Austin told the group.
Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Trump, who has been very critical of the Biden administration’s handling of Afghanistan, would not want to see a similar humanitarian crisis “on his record.”
“If you have a major curtailment or end of U.S. support for Ukraine, then you could have a major disaster in Ukraine,” he told VOA.
Rather than cut Kyiv’s lifeline, Bowman said, the U.S. should surge support to Ukraine in the first months of the new administration “to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position” ahead of any peace negotiations.
There is still $3.8 billion in approved funds for Ukraine that was passed by Congress in April, but the Pentagon says it can’t send that aid at this time because it needs additional funds from Congress to restock its own supplies.
While analysts point to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group as a high point of Austin’s legacy, funding delays from Congress and deliberations within the Biden administration on what weapons to give Kyiv have hampered Ukraine’s fight.
Bowman said that too often, when Ukraine asked for something, the Biden administration told them no and then maybe before finally saying yes.
“During that time period, we saw Russians advancing, Ukrainians dying and the delay being costly,” he said.
Officials said the administration hopes the latest aid package, along with other commitments from the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, could put Kyiv in a stronger negotiating position. They also told reporters that at least 80% of the American weapons and equipment promised to Kyiv from U.S. stockpiles would reach Ukraine before Biden leaves office. One notable exception, a senior defense official said, is a group of military vehicles that are still being refurbished to be used on the battlefield.
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