Defense Minister of Ukraine Rustem Umerov will participate in a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format in Germany on January 9, an informed source told Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the source, Minister Umerov has departed for the participation in the meeting.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has left for Germany, where the 25th meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine will take place on January 9. According to the Pentagon, during the upcoming 25th meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on January 9, they intend to determine Ukraine's defense capabilities in support of deterrence forces until 2027.