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Ramstein group meeting likely to take place in Brussels on October 17 — source

It is reported that the possibility to hold consultations at the working level is currently under consideration

© AP Photo/Michael Probst

BRUSSELS, October 9. /TASS/. Another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein group) is likely to be held on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers’ meeting at the bloc’s headquarters on October 17, a source in Brussels told TASS.

He confirmed that the group’s summit, initially set to take place in Germany on October 12, has been postponed due to changes in US President Joe Biden’s plans.

"The Ramstein summit has been postponed due to the changes in plans of some participants. The possibility to hold consultations at the working level is currently under consideration," the diplomat pointed out. "They are most likely to be held on the sidelines of the [NATO] ministerial meeting on October 17," he added.

However, the diplomat added that the summit "remains on the agenda" because "the US has to officially hand the authority to coordinate" weapons supplies to Kiev over to NATO.

NATO has not yet officially commented on the situation.

On October 8, US President Joe Biden decided to postpone his visit to Germany and Angola, set for October 10-15, due to a major hurricane speeding towards Florida.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group last met on September 6, when Kiev’s allies particularly discussed the supplies of air defense systems to Ukraine. The group owes its informal name to the United States’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where the first meeting on military assistance to Kiev was held in April 2022. The group brings together some 50 countries.

The Russian authorities have repeatedly said that flooding Ukraine with weapons would not reduce Moscow’s resolve or change the course of its special military operation.

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