BERLIN, April 21. /TASS/. The volume of military aid to Ukraine provided by NATO countries since the onset of Russia’s special military operation has amounted to $55 bln, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said before a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday.

"In total, the membership of this Contact Group has provided Ukraine with more than $55 billion in security assistance," the US defense chief said. He also specified that the cost of arms supplies and other types of military support for Ukraine from NATO has increased tenfold since the beginning of the conflict.

On Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that he believed in the need for continued support for Ukraine by European countries, adding that NATO and its partners have already supplied Kiev with military aid to the tune of 150 bln euros, including 65 bln euros worth of weapons.

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine. Following this, the US and its allies announced the introduction of sweeping sanctions against Russia and stepped up arms deliveries to Kiev.