Latest news with #DefenceContactGroup
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Germany, UK to chair defence meeting to discuss further Ukraine aid
Defence ministers from the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meet on Wednesday in Brussels to coordinate and raise further military support for Kiev. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov is expected to brief his country's allies on the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine's most pressing needs. The talks, once led by the United States, are to be chaired by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and UK Defence Secretary John Healey. The two politicians are stepping in for former US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, who had initiated the format also dubbed Ramstein Group, comprising around 50 countries, before the change of government in Washington. The new US administration under President Donald Trump has decided to no longer lead the talks. Instead, it aims to push Kiev and Moscow towards reaching a ceasefire agreement as quickly as possible. Other countries fear that such an agreement could come at Ukraine's expense. Ukraine has been defending itself from a full-scale Russian attack for more than three years, with the help of Western aid. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is also scheduled to give a press conference ahead of a meeting by the alliance's defence ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Britain pledges to deliver 100,000 drones to Ukraine by April 2026
LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - Britain pledged on Wednesday to supply 100,000 drones to Ukraine by the end of the current financial year in April 2026, marking a tenfold increase, after saying the unmanned aerial vehicles had transformed the way wars are fought. The government on Monday endorsed an independently-produced Strategic Defence Review, which calls for a more lethal, tech-driven army to counter emerging threats, including possible Russian aggression. Britain, one of Ukraine's staunchest Western supporters, plans to learn from Kyiv's more than three-year fight against Russian invasion, during which drones have transformed the battlefield. The 350-million-pound ($473 million) drone package is part of a broader 4.5-billion-pound military support initiative for Ukraine, the government said. Defence Secretary John Healey will make the announcement at a 50-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels, co-hosted with Germany. "The UK is stepping up its support for Ukraine by delivering hundreds of thousands more drones this year and completing a major milestone in the delivery of critical artillery ammunition," Healey said in a statement ahead of the meeting. In addition to the drone deliveries, Britain said it has completed the shipment of 140,000 artillery shells to Ukraine since January and will spend a further 247 million pounds this year training Ukrainian troops. ($1 = 0.7402 pounds)
