The White House has rescheduled the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting for November in a virtual environment after U.S. president Joe Biden cancelled all his foreign trips this month due to the effects of multiple hurricanes at home.
The announcement came after a phone call between Biden, and President Volodymyr Zelensky on October 16 to discuss new security assistance of $425 million for Ukraine.
Biden had originally planned to convene the Ukraine Defense Contact Group’s leader-level meeting in Germany on October 12, but the hurricane Milton was approaching.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group, led by the United States, is a group of over 50 countries including all 32 NATO member states that meets at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The group’s last meeting in Ramstein on Sept. 6, was its 24th since it was established in April 2022.
The virtual Ramstein meeting, which will take place in the near future, will be the first to be held at a leader level. Zelensky attended the last meeting in person and secured more military assistance from allies including the U.S.A., U.K. Germany, Canada, and Canada.
Zelensky had planned to present his five point victory plan at the initial Ramstein summit, but he met leaders individually after the summit was postponed.
The victory plan, announced publicly on 16th October, is composed of five points: invitation to join NATO; defense aspect; deterrence against Russian aggression; economic growth and collaboration, and post-war architecture.
The Washington Post (WP), citing an unnamed diplomat, reported that the Ukraine could be offered “more tangible steps” regarding its NATO Membership at the upcoming Ramstein Summit.
U.S. On October 16, Ambassador to NATO Julianne S. Smith stated that NATO has no plans to invite Ukraine to the alliance “in a short term.”
Voice of America reported that Smith stated, “We are not in a stage where the Alliance will be discussing issuing an invite in the near future.” Smith was speaking ahead of a NATO meeting of defense ministers in Brussels.
The Guardian reported that U.K. counterterrorism officials are investigating if Russian intelligence agents planted an incendiary inside a parcel which caught fire at a DHL warehouse near Birmingham. The Guardian reported on Oct. 16 that U.K. counter-terrorism officials are investigating whether Russian intelligence officers planted an incendiary device inside a parcel that caught fire at a warehouse near Birmingham.
Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO, announced that the next meeting between the Ukraine and NATO Council will be held on October 17. The meeting will include defense ministers of NATO member states and Ukraine’s Rustem Umerov, the country’s Minister of Defense.
The White House released a statement saying that the new package would include “additional capabilities in air defense, air-to ground munitions, armored cars, and critical munitions for Ukraine’s urgent requirements.”
According to unnamed sources cited by RBC-Ukraine, the individual in question is Oleh Hrybenko. He is reportedly responsible, according to the media outlet, for maintaining the security at critical infrastructure facilities.
The tanks will be part of a larger package worth 245 million Australian Dollars ($163 millions).
It wasn’t the first time that missiles and drone debris were found on Moldovan soil.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he would “if asked” speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that no decisions would take place without the input from Ukraine or other Western Allies.
The Defense Ministry stated that the drone is resistant to electronic warfare from Russia and can adjust artillery fire thanks to its “high-tech materials”.
In an interview published by Tengrinews.kz on October 16, a government spokeswoman said that Kazakhstan’s President has “carefully” considered proposals to join BRICS, but Astana won’t seek to join “in the near future”.
According to HUR’s report, Ukrainian soldiers captured an area of Russian battalion defence, destroyed three motorized-rifle battalions, Storm platoons, and a reconnaissance unit of Russia’s Seventh Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment.
Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state-owned power company, said later in the day that repairs were underway. The outages had been caused by “technical” reasons that were not specified. The energy supply will resume “within a few hours.”
CNN reported on October 16 that U.S. president Joe Biden will meet with the leaders of Germany France and the U.K. later this week in Berlin after his earlier trip was postponed because of Hurricane Milton.
Sebastien Lecornu, French Defense Minister, said on October 16 that France has successfully tested its first kamikaze drones and will deliver these to Ukraine “in upcoming weeks”.
After a conversation with his counterpart in the U.K., Tony Radakin Commander-in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that they discussed the possible of hitting Russian military objectives “in operational depth and strategic depth.”
In a media interview published Oct. 15, a Polish Minister said that Poland could condition Ukraine’s entry into the EU on the resolution of Volyn’s massacre, as joining the EU is not a question of survival for the country.
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