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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said in Germany that participants in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group had approved a plan for eight areas of military cooperation with Kiev until 2027. Austin’s announcement was followed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that he had secured an additional $2 billion in military assistance to help continue the futile war effort against Russia.
As Zelensky said after the meeting in Ramstein, home to a NATO Airpower headquarters, 34 countries had pledged support in different aspects to continue the 34-month-old war, including covered air defence, information technology, demining, naval forces, air forces and artillery.
“We had a very good meeting, a very good result. There was $2 billion in additional packages of support to Ukraine,” he said in a video posted on the Telegram account. “Earlier today, a meeting of the coalition leaders’ group was held with the participation of representatives of 15 countries. They approved a plan for ‘coalitions of opportunity’ until 2027. This way, partner countries can continue to provide assistance to Ukraine on the battlefield.”
As revealed in a joint statement released by the Pentagon ahead of the Ramstein meeting, the Western allies and Kiev intended to define how to meet Ukraine’s goals and military needs in the short and long term through contributions, procurement, investments, and efforts to expand defence capabilities.
In this regard, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated ahead of the session’s start that the Atlantic Alliance should do everything in its power to allow Ukraine to continue fighting.
“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,” Rutte stressed.
According to him, it is also important to demonstrate at the session the involvement of all NATO countries in providing support to Kiev.
“The global context is that we have to bring Ukraine in the best possible position. That one day, when talks would start, at the initiative of Ukraine, on how to resolve this conflict, that they are in the best possible position to do that. And then when these talks end, it will be looked at, in a sense, whether there’s a good deal or not […] The whole world is watching. So, we have to make sure that Ukraine is in the best possible position. And we should not forget that there is this geopolitical context at stake here,” said the NATO Secretary General.
For his part, Zelensky, during his address at the session, asked the allies for air defence systems and the deployment of a Western military contingent.
“Last year, France came up with the idea of deploying a contingent of partners in Ukraine to bring peace closer […] That is why our goal is to find as many instruments as possible to force Russia to peace. I believe that such a deployment of partners’ contingents is one of the best instruments. Let’s be more practical in making this possible,” he said.
According to him, representatives of Great Britain have also spoken out in favour of deploying a foreign contingent in Ukraine. Zelensky did not mention any specific names or positions.
It is recalled that on February 26, 2024, after an international meeting on support for Ukraine held in Paris, Macron said he did not rule out the possibility of European troops being deployed in Ukraine. Then, three days later, during the grand opening of the Olympic Village, Macron emphasized that his position on the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine was balanced and well-thought-out. Nonetheless, nearly a year later, nothing has progressed from Macron’s suggestion, and it is unlikely that the British will act alone or convince partners to embark on such a reckless initiative.
Although Zelensky urged his Western allies to “not to drop the ball” and to continue providing long-term military support to his embattled country, he acknowledged that “a new chapter starts for Europe” once Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20.
Zelensky securing only $2 billion in military aid once again demonstrates how Western support for Ukraine is waning, despite the rhetoric at the Ramstein meeting of supporting the country until victory over Russia is achieved.
Realistically, $2 billion will make absolutely no difference to Ukraine’s war effort, especially as Russia continues its slow but methodical advance across the front, with Ukrainian forces unable to mount any serious defence, making the whole meeting at Ramstein nothing more than performative that has achieved nothing substantial.
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if the country wasn’t so corrupt and they actually got 2 billion you could use the money to incentivise recruitment. you could in theory disburse 10k to 200k recruits signing on but in a government account payable after 6 months service or payable upon death to the family or service personnel if incapacity but because of the corruption it would never work unlike russian recruitment.
on top of the 3 billion biden gave him this last week and thd 26000 troops england’s sending .
source for your claim about uk troop deployment?
somewhere bouncing around in his head.
nato has become a gang of zionist criminals very much a reminder of the third reich who will likely find a similar or worse fate for their citizens while their leaders escape to a less radioactive place.
lol 😄😂😂
clowns/ rashniks like u were used as test dummies for final solution before.
pick ur number and stapos like me will glady send ur kind/ rashnik subhumans trough the cimney again.
that’s bold talk for a cosplay nazi sitting at his mother’s computer.
🫵🤡 😆😆😆
there’s no survival for those elites who run to bunkers during a nuclear exchange, who is going to work for them when they emerge? nobody, they’d be pillaged or killed.
western neoliberals are deranged and collectively like an extreme narcissist who would rather die than admit they were wrong.
over 700 orcs and norcs killed today in kursk but ruzzian nazi propaganda won’t show us the pictures of the stinky dead russkies lying in their own shit? muahahahaha, 🇷🇺=🏃♂️🤡 😆😆😆
they probably couldn’t find them amongst all zelensky’s 500,000 north korean troops.
i’m sure zelensky’s surviving troops would if they hadn’t all run off.
this war has already cost trillions. the cost to the uk alone is now £150 billion, including £60 billion in guarantees for ukie loans that have gone bad.
i’m sure they’ll just fiddle with the libor rate again to square things up.
2 billion is barely enough to pay zelensky’s tonton macoute a christmas bonus.
as many have commented, one geopolitical aspect on which they are all in determined denial is that any responsibly-led country in russia’s position would have to regard nato europe as a perpetual enemy with which no true peace is possible. gorbachev and yeltsin took the contrary view, with today’s consequences. another, that nato europe’s ruling class shows no interest in the cost to the people of the ukraine, or indeed to their own.
russia is in a no win situation.
if they lose, nato will be on their border. if they win, nato will be on their border.
russia is too stupid to understand who they are fighting. or, they are just playing their zionst bitch part well.
ukraine is just a play ground.
the western neoliberal world is falling apart behind nato as they try to build a bridge to russia, all russia has to do is wait things out until those who are aggressing are undermined by people in the west who are tired of wasting money fighting russia.
2027. did you get that?
lol. will russia still be “winning” in 2027?
like they won in afghanistan?
russia won’t fight the real enemy and they will lose in the end because of it.
but then again, they lost already when they became a zionst bitch nation.
when did the united states or nato win any war in afghanistan, they couldn’t stop iraq from collapsing into a series of terrorist fiefdoms.
the difference is people in the west are getting tired of neoliberal progressivism, they’re getting tired of blackrock and the wef, there’s a groundswell of people in the west who want no part of the neoliberal plan for the world and will pull the plug on it from the other end while nato is aggressing russia.
money well spent. much better than squandering it on health, education, welfare or infrastructure. the cokehead in kiev doesn’t know where his next mansion is coming from.
it’s nato saying they’re willing to pillage their own people and ruin the west in order to attempt forcing lgbt fag postmodern politics on russia.
thankfully nato will fail, whether because politicians will be voted in that undermine nato, or because of civil conflict emerging in the west.
russia would be better off nuking nato aggressors than ever capitulating.
don’t ever allow orgs such as blackrock or the wef to have any power in russia.