At the 23rd meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine (Ramstein format), Defense Minister of Ukraine Rustem Umerov called on neighboring countries to consider closing the skies over border areas, and also asked partners to think about the possibility of training AFU brigades, as proposed by France.

“Regarding Ramstein. The three main issues that were discussed were focused on air defense. I described in detail how Russia is destroying our energy infrastructure, continues to terrorize the civilian population with bombs, and called on partners to provide us with more air defense and missiles to them. I would like to thank Germany and Italy for already transferring new systems to us. I also called on our neighboring countries to consider closing the skies over the border areas so that they could work,” Umerov said at a briefing in Brussels on Thursday.

The second issue at the meeting in the Ramstein format, according to the minister, was the equipment of Ukrainian combat brigades.

“I thanked France for its readiness to fully prepare one brigade. I also called on countries to consider this possibility. Our soldiers need weapons and equipment on the battlefield,” Umerov said.

In addition, he informed that a letter of intent on the armored coalition for Ukraine was signed yesterday.

“Thanks to Poland, Germany and Italy for their leadership in this coalition. A total of 13 countries joined the coalition. The coalition format helps partners provide assistance to Ukraine more effectively. And the result of the work of this coalition will be felt by our soldiers on the front line, who receive these Western tanks and combat vehicles,” the head of the ministry noted.

The third issue at the meeting was the topic of attracting investments in the military-industrial complex, Umerov added.