This week, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will participate in important ministerial meetings of NATO and the G7 countries, where further steps to support Ukraine will be considered. This was reported by Deputy Spokesperson of the US Department of Defense Sabrina Singh during a briefing.
According to her, Minister Austin will go to Brussels, where he will take part in a series of multilateral meetings on October 16-18. Among the main topics are the strengthening of NATO’s defense positions, the adaptation of the coalition to combat new threats, in particular from ISIS, as well as the expansion of military support to Ukraine in terms of its struggle against Russian aggression.
In addition, after the meetings in Brussels, Austin will travel to Naples, Italy, where he will join the G7 defense ministers on October 19. The main issue will be the provision of further military aid to Ukraine and the discussion of other global challenges faced by the G7 members.
Earlier, on October 12, US President Joe Biden was supposed to chair the meeting of the leaders of the Rammstein contact group, but due to the approach of Hurricane Milton to the coast of Florida, he canceled his trip to Europe. Subsequently, the meeting of “Ramshteyn” was postponed to an unspecified date, which caused discussions about plans for further support of Ukraine, in particular those related to the “victory plan” previously announced by President Zelensky.
