Ukraine is calling on international partners to announce new commitments for support at the upcoming meeting of the Defense Contact Group, known as ‘Ramstein’, rather than repeating previously announced promises. This was stated by Ukraine’s Ambassador to NATO, Alona Hetmanchuk, ahead of the meeting scheduled to take place at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on February 12.
This is reported by Kyiv24
The Need for Transparency and Long-Term Plans
According to the diplomat, repeating the same contributions complicates the monitoring of commitments and the planning of further defense operations. Hetmanchuk emphasized:
“So that countries do not come forward five times with the same contributions and so that we do not have to calculate who promised what, fulfilled it, and who did not. We are very grateful for all previous contributions, but we strongly ask this time for the countries taking the floor to announce new contributions.”
The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to NATO stressed that informing about the fulfillment of previously announced commitments is positive; however, announcing old promises as new leads to confusion. She noted that there is now tracking of the fulfillment of promises between meetings, and countries are responsible for adhering to them until the next meeting. Additionally, interim deadlines have been implemented to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation.
The Importance of Forecasting and Stability of Assistance
Hetmanchuk also highlighted the necessity of establishing long-term support plans for Ukraine to ensure defense measures can be planned at least six months to a year in advance. She emphasized that there should not be a situation where only contributions for the current and next month are known, while there is no understanding of future support.
The meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (‘Ramstein’) will take place in Brussels on February 12. The previous meeting was held in December of last year. At that time, according to the Ministry of Defense, 15 countries confirmed their commitments to support Ukraine.