US hosts meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will host its next meeting in Brussels, Belgium today.

Also known as the Rammstein group, the 54-country-member UDCG coordinates military assistance to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia in the form of weapon deliveries. At the previous meeting in January, the US did not commit to additional assistance amid domestic infighting on numerous budgetary issues in the US Congress. The reduction in US support for Ukraine has largely resulted in the EU and its member states— primarily Germany and France— taking the lead in future support for Ukraine.

Due to insufficient stocks and production of ammunition, EU assistance is currently not sufficient to provide for Ukraine’s military needs—placing an emphasis on the importance of reaching an agreement for further assistance in the US. However, given the ongoing political deadlock in the US, the EU is likely to continue scaling up its commitments to Ukraine alongside pressuring the US to make new commitments. One of the key determiners will be the EU’s capacity to produce ammunition. EU officials claim that the capacity to produce 1.4 million shells a year will be reached by the end of the year followed by 2 million in 2025.