NATO's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, is participating in a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the level of Ministers of Defence, hosted by the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, at Ramstein Air Base (Germany), today (9 January 2025). The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is also in Ramstein for the meeting.
"I applaud Lloyd Austin and what he has done to bring us together," the Secretary General said, upon arrival. "We need to do everything possible to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, in terms of training and equipment, to prevail in this fight, which started in February 2022, with the massive and unprovoked onslaught of Russia on Ukraine," he pointed out, adding that the "spirit of burden-sharing will be very much at the centre of today's talks."
Mr. Rutte also underscored that the ongoing war in Ukraine had direct implications for global security. "The whole world is watching; so, we have to make sure that Ukraine is in the best possible position, when talks would start, at the initiative of Ukraine, on how to solve this conflict," he said.
