In their final meeting, Zelenskyy, US defence secretary say military aid to Ukraine must continue under Trump

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shake hands at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin used their final meeting Thursday to press the incoming Trump administration to not give up on Kyiv's fight, warning that to cease military support now “will only invite more aggression, chaos and war”. “We've come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defense coalitions we've created,” Zelenskyy said.

“No matter what's going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased of the map". Austin also announced the US would send another $500 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including missiles for fighter jets, sustainment equipment for F-16s, armoured bridging systems and small arms and ammunition.

The weapons are funded through presidential drawdown authority, meaning they can be pulled directly from US stockpiles, and the Pentagon is pushing to get them into Ukraine before the end of the month.

This latest package leaves about USD 3.85 billion in funding to provide future arms shipments to Ukraine; if the Biden administration makes no further announcements, that balance will be available to President-elect Donald Trump to send if he chooses.

“If Putin swallows Ukraine, his appetite will only grow,” Austin told the approximately 50 member nations who have been meeting over the last three years to coordinate weapons and military support for Ukraine. “If autocrats conclude that democracies will lose their nerve, surrender their interests, and forget their principles, we will only see more land grabs. If tyrants learn that aggression pays, we will only invite even more aggression, chaos, and war.” Austin leaves a consortium that now has more than a half dozen independent coalitions of those countries who are focused on Ukraine's longer-term security capabilities and who have committed to continuing to stand up those needs through 2027.

Globally, countries including the US have ramped up domestic weapons production as the Ukraine war exposed that all of those stockpiles were woefully unprepared for a major conventional land war.

The US has provided about $66 billion of the total aid since February 2022 and has been able to deliver most of that total — between 80% and 90% — already to Ukraine.

“Retreat will only provide incentives for more imperial aggression,” Austin told the group. “And if we flinch, you can count on Putin to push further and punch harder. Ukraine's survival is on the line. But so is the security of Europe, the United States, and the world.”