The United States has provided more than $35 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the start of the war, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday at the US military base in Ramstein, as quoted by DPA and Agerpres.

Partners from the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine met to discuss issues such as air defense and ammunition.

“Ukraine urgently needs our help to protect its citizens, infrastructure and forces from the threat of Russian missiles,” said the head of the Pentagon, who added that Ukraine will be supported as long as necessary.

Lloyd Austin noted that the partners’ efforts are a major contribution to Ukraine on the battlefield and illustrate how badly the Kremlin has been deceived.

The contact group on the defense of Ukraine has already met three times at the US military base in Ramstein.

This new meeting took place only a day after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to Kyiv.

During his visit to the Ukrainian capital on Thursday, Stoltenberg emphasized that the future of Ukraine lies in NATO.

Discussions regarding Ukraine’s place in NATO on the eve of the meeting in Germany

“Let me say clearly: Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s place of honor in NATO. And over time, our support will help make this possible,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

Instead, Zelenskyy asked the head of the North Atlantic Alliance to officially invite Ukraine to membership and provide a timetable for joining.

“There is no objective barrier for making a political decision to invite Ukraine to the alliance, and now, when the majority of people in NATO countries and the majority of Ukrainians support joining NATO, the time has come for appropriate decisions,” the Ukrainian president said. emphasized

Zelenskyy used the opportunity to call on Ukraine’s partners to supply more weapons and ammunition to help Kyiv’s armed forces repel the Russian invasion.

The comments by the two officials angered Moscow, and on Friday the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning what it called the Ukrainian president’s “growing appetite” for weapons.

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