1 of 3 | U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will convene the final meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group next Thursday before President-Elect Donald Trump takes office January 20th.
Austin (L) speaks as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) listens during the seventh meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) at the US Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, Sept. 6, 2024. File photo by Ronald Wittek/ EPA-EFE
Jan. 3 (UPI) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will convene the final meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group next Thursday before President-Elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
The group of defense ministers from more than 50 countries, which coordinates Western military aid to help Ukraine defend against Moscow, will meet for the 25th time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Austin will lead the Jan. 9 meeting amid uncertainty about what the incoming U.S. administration will do on Ukraine policy and on U.S. participation in NATO.
Trump may or may not continue U.S. participation in the group helping to defend Ukraine, so some officials had wanted NATO to take over leadership of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Biden announced $2.5 billion more in security assistance for Ukraine last week.
In a statement announcing that aid, Biden said, “The Department of Defense is in the process of delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armored vehicles which will strengthen Ukraine’s hand as it heads into the winter. At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war over the remainder of my time in office.”
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group includes all 32 NATO members.
As the group meets one last time during the Biden administration, Russia is advancing on the critical town of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
Trump has claimed he can end the war in Ukraine quickly but has not spelled out the terms he will propose to do so.