War in Ukraine: Kyiv allies rush to improve air defense against Russian offensive

A total of 54 countries that support Ukraine militarily coordinated their efforts on Tuesday in a new meeting chaired by the United States, largely to improve Ukrainian air defenses in the face of an offensive Russia is expected to launch in the spring, but not yet in including aviation. combat.

“Today we met once again with our valuable allies and partners to make sure that Ukraine have what you need when you need it,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at a press conference following the ninth meeting of the contact group on Ukraine.

The meeting, held at NATO Headquarters and preceding a two-day meeting of Allied Defense Ministers, served as partners in Ukraine to hear from the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, who upon arrival showed a handkerchief with a drawing of an airplane, about the most urgent needs of his country and coordinate their contribution.

Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed at the beginning of the meeting that “there is now an urgent need to deliver what has already been promised” and that the material is working properly and has the necessary ammunition.

Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff USA., Mark Milley, summarized that 11 countries have pledged to provide tanks, 22 infantry fighting vehicles, 16 artillery and ammunition, and nine more air defense artillery.

obligations

Austin recalled that together the countries supporting Ukraine Since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, they have donated nearly $50 billion worth of lethal materials.

USAGermany and the Netherlands cooperate to provide Ukraine Patriot air defense systems, and France and Italy are working on the creation of the SAMP / T air defense system.

France also announced that it would work with Australia to speed up the production of 155mm munitions, according to Austin, who also recalled that Norway has allocated 7.5 billion euros for military and intelligence assistance. Ukraine over the next five years.

In addition, a consortium of countries, including Germany, Poland, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, is cooperating in the supply of Leopard tanks.

Bye, USAThe Czech Republic and the Netherlands will jointly supply more than 90 T-72 main battle tanks, complementing Poland’s last donated T-70 tank, while the UK will provide a challenger tank company.

“All of these capabilities will continue to be important to Ukraine’s success (…) It’s not about one opportunity, it’s about delivering all of the capabilities we promised, integrating all of these systems,” Austin said, adding that “I I don’t have any aircraft announcements today.”

Various ministers agreed today that the main thing at this time is to deliver Ukraine provide as soon as possible the assistance already provided and, especially, improve air defense, without considering the possibility of delivering fighters in the short term.

Urgency before the onset

“Regarding that Russia concentrates or does not concentrate its aircraft to carry out any massive air attack, we do not currently see this. yes we know it Russia has a significant number of aircraft and that he has a lot of opportunities left, ”Austin said, in connection with which he called for“ doing everything possible to Ukraine get as many air defense assets as possible,” he said.

“We have little time to help the Ukrainians prepare for the offensive,” said allied sources, who specified that Russia was conducting a massive mobilization of troops and pre-deploying air assets in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainealthough they clarified that they do not know when they will act.

They said: “Although the Russian capabilities, the ground forces, are very demoralized, very dilapidated and very depleted, the Russians still have a fairly sizable air force.”

For this reason, they noted that the main thing is that Ukrainian air defense and its ammunition – even before sending tanks – protect urban centers from attacks from Russiain which he came to use 30 different types of missiles.

“There are several levels of air defense. The Ukrainians need everything from high-end equipment like the Patriots and SAMP-T to mid-range systems like the Iris-T and even some ground launchers, and then they need to be able to integrate it all into a coherent command and control system. and control,” they explained.

Allies will now have to work against the clock to reach Ukraine material without waiting to overload three transport routes through Poland, Slovakia and Romania, they concluded.

(As reported by EFE)

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