US, Germany pledge more aid for Ukraine

Berlin [Germany], January 10: Washington and Berlin pledged more aid for Ukraine as allies of the embattled nation gathered with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky at the US military's Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday to discuss aid.
The United States said it is providing further military aid to Ukraine amounting to $500 million to help with the fight against the ongoing Russian invasion, shortly before US President Joe Biden's departure from office.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the announcement during a session of the Ukraine Contact Group.
The package includes anti-aircraft ammunition, munitions and technical support for the F-16 fighter jets in Ukrainian service, he said.
It could be the last aid package before Biden hands over office to President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
According to reports from Washington, Ukraine will have received a total of nearly $65 billion in US military aid to counter Russia's full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian officials fear that US support for Ukraine could drop off once Trump takes office on January 20.
Trump's policy towards Ukraine is currently unclear as he has expressed his intention to bring an end to the war. Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and fuelled a lower-intensity conflict for years before that.
Representatives from the around 50 members of the Contact Group were invited to the conference including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
Germany meanwhile is to provide Ukraine with additional IRIS-T guided missiles for air-defence systems at short notice, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the meeting.
The IRIS-T missiles had been ordered for the German military but will be sent to Ukraine instead to help repel relentless Russian air attacks, Pistorius said. He declined to say precisely how many missiles were being delivered.
"We are supplying Ukraine first before we replenish our stocks," Pistorius said.
Germany will also send another 200 soldiers and two Patriot air-defence batteries to Poland in the coming weeks to protect a NATO logistics hub being used to move military aid to Ukraine.
The forces will remain in Poland under joint NATO command for an estimated six months, according to Pistorius.
Zelensky called on his allies to support the production of combat drones in Ukraine during the meeting.
Zelensky said the use of drones has changed the way wars are fought and that Ukraine's rapid expansion of its drone capabilities is helping to repel Russian attacks.
"Please invest in this strength of Ukraine," the president appealed. He also asked the group of supporters for more anti-aircraft weapons, especially in the wake of devastating Russian airstrikes, including one on Wednesday in the city of Zaporizhzhya that killed 13 people.
Source: Qatar Tribune