RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin urged allies on Friday to dig deeper to support Ukraine at the start of a meeting of dozens of defence ministers at an air base in Germany.
Nato and defence leaders from roughly 50 countries are meeting at Ramstein Air Base.
It is the latest in a series of arms-pledging conferences since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.
“Russia is regrouping, recruiting, and trying to re-equip,” Mr Austin said at the start of the meeting.
“This is not a moment to slow down. It’s a time to dig deeper. The Ukrainian people are watching us,” he said without making specific reference to tanks.
But the Kremlin said on Friday Western nations supplying additional tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict, and the West would regret its “delusion” that Ukraine could win on the battlefield.
“We have repeatedly said that such supplies will not fundamentally change anything, but will add problems for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The United States announced an additional US$2.5 billion (S$3.3 billion) in military aid for Ukraine on Thursday, a package which will include more armored vehicles and ammunition.
Finland announced a new donation of more than 400 million euros (S$573 million) worth of defence equipment for Ukraine, not including German-made Leopard 2 heavy tanks which it said it could also send if there is an agreement with allies.
Berlin has veto power over any decision to export the Leopard tanks, fielded by Nato-allied armies across Europe and seen by defence experts as the most suitable for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday implored Western allies to “speed up” arms deliveries.
Addressing the gathering at Ramstein Air Base by video-link, Mr Zelensky said partners needed “not to bargain about different numbers of tanks but to open that principal supply that will stop evil”.
Asked whether the supply of increasingly advanced weapons to Ukraine meant that the conflict was escalating, the Kremlin’s Mr Peskov said: “You are absolutely right. It really is developing into an upward spiral. We see a growing indirect, and sometimes direct, involvement of Nato countries in this conflict.”
“We see a devotion to the dramatic delusion that Ukraine can succeed on the battlefield,” he added. “This is a dramatic delusion of the Western community that will more than once be cause for regret. We are sure of that.”
Mr Peskov said the way to prevent further escalation was to heed the strategic concerns that Russia expressed in late 2021, a few weeks before sending its armed forces into Ukraine. REUTERS
