Ukraine Contact Group Meeting in Germany Ends Without Long-Range Missile Pledges

But top US army general hails ‘steady progress’ of Kyiv’s ongoing counter-offensive against Russian forces.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (R) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley attend a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Pentagon in Washington on March 15, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP

A Sept. 19 meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group—a 54-country bloc that coordinates Western military assistance to Ukraine—ended without fresh Western pledges to provide Kyiv with longer-range missiles, including the U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).

“We’ve done a credible job of meeting Ukraine’s need for air defenses,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters after the meeting at the U.S. Ramstein Airbase in Germany. “But there’s more work to be done.”