BERLIN, September 18. /TASS/. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will skip another meeting of the Western contact group on military support for Ukraine to be held at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany because of COVID-19, the Bild newspaper said on Monday.

According to the newspaper, Pistorius was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Monday evening, so, he will not be able to take part in the meeting at Ramstein in person. The meeting will be attended by German defense ministry officials.

The fifth meeting of the Western contact group on coordinating military assistance to Ukraine will be held at the US airbase at Germany’s Ramstein on September 19. Officials from non-NATO countries have been invited, like during the previous meetings. The first such meeting was held at Ramstein in April 2022. The previous one was held online on July 18.