On Thursday 9 January, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, announced that the European Union was “ready to take over” the task of providing military support to Ukraine “if the United States does not want to do so”.
Speaking to journalists ahead of a meeting of the “contact group” in Ramstein (Germany), Ms Kallas said she was “sure” that Washington would “continue its support” for Kyiv. In her view, “whoever leads the United States, I think it is not in America’s interest for Russia to be the strongest power in the world”, added Ms Kallas, as quoted by AFP.
On his arrival in Ramstein, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated the need to do “everything possible to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs in terms of training and equipment to prolong the fight and win”.
The United States has announced new stockpile support valued at $500 million, including air defence missiles, air-to-ground munitions, support equipment for the F-16, armoured bridge systems, secure communications equipment, small arms and ammunition and spare parts.
For its part, the UK explained that 30,000 drones would be sent to Ukraine after contracts worth £45 million (€53.75 million) were awarded by the international Drone Capability Coalition. These first-person view drones have been funded by the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Latvia and Sweden.
In addition, the UK Defence Secretary confirmed that the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine now stands at over £1.3 billion (€1.55 billion), including £190 million (€227 million) of new funding from Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Germany and Iceland.
In addition to material aid, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky expressed the need to “find as many instruments as possible to force Russia to make peace”. In his view, the deployment of “contingents of partners is one of the best instruments”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)