26th Ramstein: EU Steps Up Military Support for Ukraine, UK to Provide £4.5 Bn, Norway - Air Defence and $50M for Drone Coalition

Following the 26th meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defence, all participants in the format reaffirmed their commitment to further support Ukraine and announced billions of dollars in aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov summed up the results of Ramstein and said that Ukraine had received very powerful assistance packages from its partners.

At a press conference following the Ramstein meeting, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said that the UK was providing a new package worth £150 million and confirmed its commitment to allocate £4.5 billion in military support to Ukraine this year.

‘Ukraine is coming away from this meeting with the support of the members of the Contact Group, with support in the form of billions of dollars worth of weapons and ammunition that has been announced today,’ the British minister said.

He stressed that this will provide weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and help increase pressure on Russia, ‘to force Putin to the negotiating table, to help bring a lasting peace.’

Healy did not specify which countries had announced the new aid, but stressed that European countries had already stepped up and would continue to do so.

‘In 2024, NATO members pledged to provide €40 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, and provided €50 billion. The majority, almost 60% of this assistance, came to Ukraine last year from European countries,’ Gili said.

In turn, Norway confirms its readiness to join the international coalition of drones and will allocate $50 million to it. 

The day before, Norwegian Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik signed a declaration of Norway's readiness to join the international Drone Coalition in support of Ukraine, led by Latvia and the United Kingdom, during a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defence in Brussels.

‘We are pleased with Norway's desire to join the Drone Coalition, which already brings together 17 countries in support of Ukraine.’ With potential accession, Norway will make a significant contribution to the supply of drones and technology development to make Ukraine stronger on the battlefield. ‘We also invite other allies to join the UAV Coalition to jointly increase the supply to Ukraine,’ said Defence Minister Andries Spruds.

According to the Drone Coalition's Memorandum of Understanding, the admission of new countries must be agreed upon with existing member states. With Norway joining the Drone Coalition, 18 countries will cooperate.

Norway also announced the transfer of additional air defence equipment worth NOK 1.2 billion (about $107 million) to Ukraine.