More military support for Ukraine. At the US base in Germany, Ramstein met with defense ministers and senior military personnel from 50 countries.
“The face of war” is changing in Ukraine, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the US base in Germany, Ramstein, on Friday.
Since the beginning of the war, several aspects have changed: Ukraine has stopped Russian fire with massive artillery strikes in the south and east of Ukraine, and this week announced the recovery of several hundred kilometers of territory east of the metropolis, Kharkiv.
The US and its allies must “revive the defense industry”, Austin asked at the meeting of defense ministers. It is about “responding to both Ukraine’s priorities and our needs”.
This means that Ukraine will be supplied with more Western military equipment.
The spring has passed, when Ukrainian supporters tried to help Ukraine with old Soviet tanks from the army reserves of NATO’s eastern allies.
It is apparently about Ukraine’s integration into the Western arms industry. Kiev wants ATACMS short-range missiles with a range of 300 km.
Until now, the American administration has not accepted this, because they could also hit targets on Russian territory. Ukraine’s cautiously optimistic announcements about the development of the war in the east and south of the country cannot be independently confirmed.
Since the beginning of September, when the Ukrainian offensive began, Kiev has imposed an information blackout. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that it is not the moment to name the liberated villages and towns. But this week, many videos of liberated areas have appeared on social media.
Observers from the “European Council of Foreign Relations” (ECFR) institute confirm these announcements, stressing that the counteroffensive will not be a “lightning war”, because for this the country needs more weapons, write Margaryta Khvostova and Dmytro Kryvosheie in an analysis published before the Ramstein meeting.
It is about crushing the Russian troops with well-thought-out strikes, such as artillery strikes on Russian supplies and small missions of Ukrainian soldiers.
Even the German security expert, Nico Lange, says that “it is not a question of a broad offensive, but of limited actions, which opportunistically use the weak points of the Russian positions”.
According to Lange, “the territory in the south of Ukraine is flat,” and “any kind of infantry movement is very dangerous. For extensive counterattacks and military successes in southern Ukraine, more protective tanks and personnel carriers will be needed.” Nico Lange is referring to the German Marder tanks, which Ukraine has been looking for since the spring.
“Peace is achieved with German weapons”, demands the expert close to the CDU. In particular, Russian rocket attacks against non-military targets continue to kill civilians in Ukraine.
Before the meeting of the contact group for Ukraine in Ramstein, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military troops, declared that Ukraine can repel the invading Russian troops.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi told that Russia can so far hit every corner of the Ukrainian territory without “punishment”.
For the first time, the general has confirmed that the explosions at the Russian Saki base and at the ammunition depots and railways in Crimea were carried out by Ukrainian troops.
Zaluzhnyi, referring to the Prussian military philosopher, Clausewitz, – according to which one must understand the enemy’s “center of gravity” and whoever hits this, victory belongs to him – states that hitting every corner of Ukraine is the center of Russian gravity, and this must eliminated.
That is why Ukraine is looking for MGM-140 ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) short-range missiles, says Zaluzhnyi.
If this center is not neutralized “the current situation could last for years.” If this is neutralized, many things are possible, perhaps even negotiations for the end of the war.