He stressed that the weapons supply to Ukraine must now be constant and resolute.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is urging allies to support Ukraine's defense needs for the long term.

Austin said this at the beginning of the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (the so-called "Ramstein-5"), which is taking place in Germany.

He stated that he had already managed to go a long way in cooperation.

“And today is four months after our initial meeting of the Contact Group. The war is at another key moment. Russian forces continue to brutally bomb Ukrainian cities and civilians with rockets and artillery fire. But Ukrainian forces launched their counteroffensives in the south of the country. And they will integrate the capabilities that we have all provided to help them fight and reclaim their sovereign territories," Austin said.

He added that the Contact Group was founded to meet the most urgent needs of Ukraine.

"But today this Contact Group must position itself to support Ukraine's brave defenders for the long term," Austin said.

In this regard, the US Secretary of Defense explained that the supply of weapons to Ukraine now must be constant and resolute.

In particular, according to him, we urgently need to move on to innovation and push all industrial defense bases to provide Ukraine with the tools needed "on the difficult path ahead."

Austin added that it is also about the need to renew and strengthen the resolve of all allies to stay on the side of Ukraine.

"We're here because we refuse to live in a world where big countries trample on borders with force," Austin said.

According to him, the face of war is changing, as is the mission of the Contact Group.

"We will work together to train Ukrainian forces for the long term. We will work together to help integrate Ukraine's capabilities and strengthen its joint operations for the long term. We will work together to upgrade our defense industrial bases to meet Ukrainian demands for the long-term." perspective, and we will work for production and innovation to meet the needs of Ukraine for self-defense for a long period," Austin stressed.