Ukraine says arms deliveries, joint projects on agenda for allies' meeting

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said the timely delivery of weapons and joint projects with European partners were on the agenda of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group that meets in Brussels on Wednesday.

The meeting will be chaired by British defence minister John Healey.

The grouping of some 50 nations, formed after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, is sometimes referred to as the Ramstein Group after the U.S. air base in Germany where it first met. It has previously been led by the United States.

As well as discussing the need to accelerate air defence, aviation and ammunition shipments, Umerov said he planned to raise the issues of increasing the volume of European-produced arms supplies and expanding Ukrainian production.

The newly appointed U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who will also participate in the meeting, said on Tuesday he would push European allies to spend more on defence.

Umerov said he had held his first meeting with Hegseth on Wednesday morning. He posted a photo of them both but did not share details about their conversation.