Ukraine Defense Contact Group

The United States Department of Defense announced on November 20 a new USD 275 million security assistance package to support Ukraine's urgent defense requirements. This marks the 70th tranche of military aid provided to Ukraine from U.S.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed support for including Russia in a forthcoming international peace conference aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Speaking to public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, Scholz highlighted the need to address the current conflict and expedite efforts towards achieving peace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met on Sept. 6 with top United States military leaders and more than 50 partner nations in Germany to press for more weapons support as Washington announced it would provide another $250 million in security assistance to Kiev.

The NATO-Ukraine Council's meeting in the format of defense ministers, attended by EU representatives, has commenced. Discussions focus on enhancing arms support for Ukraine, particularly in air defense, and addressing challenges such as sabotage, disinformation, and cyber attacks against NATO countries.

The protracted nature of the war in Ukraine and the signal sent a few days ago by the US Congress of the continued bipartisan commitment to Ukraine, with a substantial aid package, are putting pressure on Europeans to continue the flow of weapons systems and ammunition to Ukrainian forces.

Defence Minister Nikos Dendias discussed Ukraine, Greek contributions to security in the Red Sea, and bilateral relations in a call with US counterpart Lloyd Austin on Tuesday. 

The United States will begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use and maintain Abrams tanks in the coming weeks, as it continues to speed up its effort to get them onto the battlefield as quickly as possible, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday that a planned visit by his Swedish counterpart to Ankara has been cancelled after Swedish authorities granted permission for protests in Stockholm.

"At this point, the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson to Turkey on January 27 has become meaningless. So we cancelled the visit," Akar said.