NEW YORK, January 9. /TASS/. The work of Ukraine defense contact group may be put into question following the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, The New York Times (NYT) reported.
"Whether it [the group] continues under the incoming administration’s leadership is uncertain," provided that "Trump is deeply skeptical of supporting Ukraine, puts much less stock in alliances and has openly curried favor with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia."
The group held its inaugural meeting on April 26, 2022, at the Ramstein air base in Germany. The January 9 meeting at the same venue will be the last under the outgoing administration of Joe Biden.
A number of Pentagon officials believe that if Trump decides to withdraw from the group, other country may step in and take charge. At the same time, the newspaper did not speculate on who may assume the leadership instead of the United States.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, opening the group’s 25th meeting, that the participants had approved roadmaps on eight areas of military cooperation with the Kiev government leading to the year 2027. The member countries said in a joint statement, released by the Pentagon, that Kiev’s allies plan to work closely with Ukraine to identify how to meet the designated benchmarks in Ukraine’s military needs through "respective national donations, procurements, investments, and efforts to expand defense industrial base capacity."
The Russian authorities have repeatedly said that pumping weapons into Ukraine would not weaken Russia's resolve and would not change the course of the special military operation.