The unity of the Ukraine Protection Contact Group is strong and the group is making nice strides in getting the Ukraine army the capabilities it must defend the nation, Secretary of Protection Lloyd J. Austin III stated on the Pentagon at the moment.
Austin and Military Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers, met just about from the Pentagon with representatives from greater than 50 nations and organizations. It was the seventh assembly of the group. “It has been one other extremely profitable session,” Austin stated throughout a information convention after the assembly. “Now, we have been assembly at the moment as Russia continues to focus on Ukraine civilians and bombard its power grid. However Russia’s deliberate cruelty solely deepens our resolve and can proceed to help Ukraine’s bedrock proper to defend itself and defend the foundations based mostly worldwide order.”
Austin addressed the lethal explosion in Poland close to its border with Ukraine. He spoke with his Polish counterpart underscoring America’s ironclad dedication to defend Poland. “We have now full confidence within the Polish authorities’s investigation of this explosion,” he stated. “They have been conducting that investigation in an expert and deliberate method, and we can’t get forward of their work.”
Austin stated he’ll keep in contact with Polish officers and NATO allies and companions. “We’re nonetheless gathering data, however we’ve seen nothing that contradicts [Polish] President [Andrzej] Dudas preliminary evaluation that this explosion was probably the results of a Ukrainian air protection missile that sadly landed in Poland,” he stated. “And regardless of the last conclusions could also be, the world is aware of that Russia bears final duty for this incident.”
Everybody within the contact group agrees that Ukraine “has a bedrock proper to defend itself, and we are going to proceed to face in solidarity with the folks of Ukraine,” Austin stated.
Ukrainian Protection Minister Oleksii Reznikov joined the assembly and up to date the group on the present battlefield dynamics and on Ukraine’s most pressing self-defense wants. “Ukraine’s troops proceed to consolidate their features on the battlefield as they head into the winter. And the contact group continues to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses within the face of Russia’s on-going barrages.
“I am happy to have the ability to report that the [National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems] air protection methods that we have despatched to Ukraine are actually operational,” Austin stated. “Their efficiency, to date, has been very spectacular. The NASAMS methods had a one hundred pc success price and intercepting Russian missiles.”
The contact group additionally mentioned coaching for the Ukrainian army. “I am assured that the coaching efforts spearheaded by the US and lots of different members of this contact group will equip the Ukrainian armed forces with the talents that they should consolidate their features and to grab new alternatives on the battlefield,” Austin stated. “I might additionally wish to acknowledge the European Union’s necessary efforts right here. The EU’s coaching program throughout Europe will do an amazing deal to bolster what different nations are doing bilaterally.”
He famous the UK pledged to coach one other 19,000 Ukrainian troops subsequent 12 months.
Different nations stepped up, as nicely, together with Sweden with a $287 million bundle of help to Ukraine. Spain has promised to ship extra Hawk missile batteries and missiles. Canada has pledged $500 million in help together with winter gear.
Austin stated every assembly of the contact group has yielded tangible outcomes.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his struggle of selection, “they launched into an incredible strategic mistake,” Milley stated in his remarks. “They made a selection in February of this 12 months to illegally invade a rustic that posed no risk to Russia. In making that selection, Russia established a number of targets. They needed to overthrow [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and his authorities.”
Russia needed to safe entry to the Black Sea, and seize the seaport of Odessa. Russia needed to grab all the way in which to the Dnieper River, then pause after which proceed to assault all the way in which to the Carpathian Mountains. “Briefly, they needed to overrun all of Ukraine,” the chairman stated. “And so they misplaced. They did not obtain these targets. They failed to realize their strategic targets, and they’re now failing to realize their operational and tactical targets.”