Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė attends the 25th meeting of the so-called Ramstein format Ukraine Contact Defense Group in Germany. Minister urged donors to step up military aid to assist Ukraine to fend off the aggressor.
According to Minister, if each Ukraine’s donor in the Ramstein format would dedicate 0.25% of GDP in aid to Ukraine, it would be possible to strengthen its positions in the war enough to change what the world begins to see as an illusion of peace into actual sustainable peace through clearly projected strength. Lithuania has donated to Ukraine with 0.28% of GDP in 2024 (EUR 210 million) and is ready to stay the course. Shortly Ukraine will receive another EUR 10 million injection to its defence industry and EUR 30 million to the fund of the Capability Coalition for Demining.
“We cannot afford to sacrifice Ukraine. We all know perfectly that we are not dedicating enough to ensure Ukraine’s victory against the aggressor. Members of the Ramstein format constitute an incomparably more significant and wealthier force than russia. However, this power gutters out on paper.
We are still too slow and treat the war in Ukraine as if it was an exercise, as if we were deaf to the russian threats to the NATO Alliance. Every Russian tank destroyed on the Ukrainian soil is a tank that will never get its way into our territory,” said Minister D. Šakalienė at the meeting.
The meeting of Capability Coalition leaders were held on the sidelines of the Ramstein format meeting with participation of the Ministers of Defence of eight Allies leading the coalitions.
Minister D. Šakalienė presented the action plan, strategic objectives and arising challenges of the Lithuanian and Icelandic-led Capability Coalition for Demining.
Minister of National Defence continued the effort to develop Lithuania’s leadership in mobilizing the region in meetings with Minister of Defence of Sweden Pal Jonson, Minister of Defence of Finland Antti Häkkänen, Minister of Defence of Italy Guido Crosetto, Federal Minister of Defence of Germany Boris Pistorius, Minister of Defence of the Netherlands Ruben Brekelmans, Minister of National Defence of Luxembourg Yuriko Backes, Minister of Defence of Latvia Andris Sprūds, as well as informal communication with other regional leaders.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group was initiated by the United States in April 2022. The previous meeting of NATO Allies and partners took place in September.
