{"id":232184,"date":"2023-01-21T12:11:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T10:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=232184"},"modified":"2023-01-21T12:11:36","modified_gmt":"2023-01-21T10:11:36","slug":"day-331","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/day-331","title":{"rendered":"Day 331: what was agreed and what wasn\u2019t at eighth Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Ramstein"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Results of Ramstein meeting: frustration toward Germany, but more assistance to come<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On January 20, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group convened at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The meeting is the eighth in a series of meetings. Defense ministers of the countries members of the group failed to agree on main issue \u2013 the supply of German-made Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine. Yet the allies pledged more equipment that could be used against any potential Russian offensive in Ukraine this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany dragging its feet on providing tanks to Ukraine<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group failed to agree on tanks supply. His statement comes as a major disappointment of the Ramstein meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs far as the delivery of the Leopard is concerned, there is no unanimous opinion,\u201d Pistorius said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the pros and cons have to be weighed very carefully,\u201d the German Defense Minister said, adding that there is no clarity on when a final decision could be made. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He refused to say whether Germany would allow Poland and other countries that said they were ready to do so, to re-export the tanks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany is \u201cready to move quickly\u201d if allies reach a consensus on sending tanks to Ukraine, Pistorius said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poland\u2019s Defense Minister Mariusz B\u0142aszczak acknowledged a decision on sending the equipment to Ukraine had yet to be agreed. Even as Germany has not authorized such a move, he said he hopes to create a coalition of countries that own these tanks in order to send them to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyi reacts to lack of progress on supply of tanks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine will have to keep fighting to ensure it has enough modern tanks, President Zelenskyi said as the allies concluded the eighth Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. \u201cToday is the day of Ramstein and defense news for Ukraine, which our diplomatic efforts bring week after week. Not everything can be announced in public, including what is discussed in Ramstein. It is a closed-door discussion, as it should be,\u201d the Ukrainian President said in a nightly address Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn general, we can conclude that today\u2019s Ramstein [meeting] will strengthen our resilience. The partners are firm in their stance to support Ukraine as long as it takes for us to win\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will still have to fight for the supply of modern tanks, but every day, we make it more obvious there is no alternative to making the decision on tanks,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the participants of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, President Zelenskyi called to supply longer-range missiles and F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. \u201cI can thank you hundreds of times and it will be absolutely just and fair, given all that we have already done, but hundreds of \u2018thank you\u2019 are not hundreds of tanks. All of us can use thousands of words in discussions, but I cannot put words instead of guns that are needed against Russian artillery, or instead of the anti-aircraft missiles that are needed to protect people from Russian airstrikes,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forcing Russian troops out of Ukraine in 2023 is unlikely, U.S. military chief says in Ramstein<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Statement by U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley that Ukraine\u2019s victory on the battlefield in 2023 is unlikely, was another disappointment of the Ramstein meeting on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a military standpoint, I still maintain that for this year it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine,\u201d Milley said at a news conference after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat doesn’t mean it can’t happen; doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it\u2019d be very, very difficult,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can happen is a continued defense, stabilizing the front, depending on the delivery and training of all of this equipment, Milley said. \u201cI think it’s very, very possible for the Ukrainians to run a significant tactical or even operational level offensive operation to liberate as much Ukrainian territory as possible,\u201d the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I do think at the end of the day this war, like many wars in the past, will end at some sort negotiating table,\u201d Milley is quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia plans on using Red Cross to besmirch Ukraine\u2019s military, Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre says<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Russian state security services have a plan to use the Russian Red Cross to stem the international community\u2019s supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre (USCC), a leading strategic policy NGO currently embedded with the Ukrainian military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on its access to Ukrainian strategic and military intelligence sources, the USCC reports that Russian agencies will soon use the Russian Red Cross to allege war crimes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine using Western-supplied weaponry. Read the full text in English at the link<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potential russian re-offensive in spring 2023. Ukraine in Flames #316<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A year into launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, russia is supposedly planning another major offensive to make up for its losses on the ground and justify its heavy human cost at home. There is no clear picture of what it might look like, especially after seeing Ukraine\u2019s determined resistance and ongoing support by Western countries. Watch Ukraine in flames #316 to find out whether russia is planning to regain the initiative and how the Armed Forces of Ukraine are preparing for the possible offensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n