Ukraine’s allies pledge new aid at Ramstein

“Heaven and earth” have been moved by western nations to defend Ukraine, declared US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, today, speaking from Ramstein air base in Germany.

The 24th summit of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), attended by Zelensky, Austin, the UK’s defence secretary John Healey, and other top NATO defence officials, resulted in some big new commitments from members of the 50-nation cohort. The US dedicated $250 mn in additional armaments, Germany pledged new artillery pieces and air defence systems, and the UK promised a package of 650 lightweight multirole missiles for air defence valued at £162 mn.

While expressing gratitude for the sustained support, Zelensky eagerly reiterated his request to use western-donated long-range weapons to hit Russian assailants on their home soil. Ukraine’s President insisted: Putin will be “motivated to seek peace” if faced with the devastating prospect of precise Ukrainian barrages deep into his heartland. 

Zelensky hopes to achieve this outcome through the use of US-supplied Atacms ballistic missiles and with UK-supplied Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles. Currently, the US limits the use of long-range missiles to within the Ukrainian-occupied territories, including Crimea. Fearing greater escalation, it has held firm that it does not permit the deployment of these missiles against targets in formal Russian territory. 

The UK appears to be diverging from its American counterpart. According to reporting from The Telegraph, the UK now privately backs Storm Shadow use inside Russia despite its public pronouncements to the contrary. 

In his address today, Zelensky tied the lack of long-range preemptive measures to the devastating strike at Poltava earlier this week which killed 55 Ukrainians at a military institute, in the deadliest single attack of the war this year.

The current long-range weapons debate is reminiscent of several aid cycles in recent memory: Zelensky references a preventable atrocity to make the case for specific weapons systems, the West twiddles its thumbs in consternation, eventually, one staunch ally – often the UK – takes the lead in permitting certain actions or supplying weapon-types, and then the other allies follow suit. 

While each cycle has been accompanied by urgency from the Ukrainian side, Zelensky appears especially frantic to hasten consensus on this issue as his country enters a critical juncture of the war.

Battles are raging in and around the eastern towns of Hrodivka, Toretsk, and New York – yes, you read that correctly – as the Russian offensive continues to chew away at Ukrainian lines in the Donbas. Although Ukraine’s army chief Syrskyi says the Russian onslaught on the essential supply hub of Povorsk has stalled this week, mass evacuations from the area raise concerns over an imminent Russian push. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Kursk offensive has ground to a halt and the frontlines are stabilising. While Ukraine holding Russian territory after an entire month may seem to be a victory worth celebrating, the lingering manoeuvre has been criticised for redirecting key resources away from the nation’s imperilled east.

Zelenksy is yet to be convinced that “heaven and earth” have been moved by western allies just yet. Giving Kyiv the green light to strike deep inside Russia would make Austin’s words a little more persuasive. 

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