U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov during the 20th Ramstein-format meeting in Germany on March 19, 2024. (Rustem Umerov/Facebook)
The next Ramstein-format summit of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will be held on Sept. 6, as reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Aug. 20.
The U.S.-led group, consisting of over 50 countries, including all 31 NATO members, convenes at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
This will mark the group's 24th meeting since its establishment in April 2022.
At the last meeting on June 13, participants focused on strengthening Ukraine's air defense, including the provision of Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, amid increasing Russian aerial attacks on cities and the energy grid.
Argentina also announced its membership in the UDCG, joining efforts to coordinate military aid for Ukraine.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
"We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there," Trump said during a press conference after his meeting with Putin. "A couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway. So there’s no deal until there’s a deal."
The two leaders began their meeting at the U.S. military Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage at around 11:30 a.m. local time. The event will mark their first face-to-face talks of Trump's second term and their first meeting in six years, as well as Putin's first visit to U.S. soil in a decade.
Rozhkova, who started working at the central bank in 2015, has frequently spoken out in favor of the bank’s independence from the executive branch and was one of the few top officials not controlled by the President’s Office.
Nearly half of the active Starlink satellite terminals that USAID delivered to Ukraine were present in territories fully or partially occupied by Russia, raising concerns about potential misuse, according to a U.S. Inspector General report.
The Kyiv Independent visited the front-line city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast to hear from its residents what they think about the prospects of land swaps between Ukraine and Russia ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska.
The corps claimed that Ukrainian units are operating inside the city, and civilians can move about, though travel within Pokrovsk remains heavily restricted. It is still possible to reach the city, the statement added.
Russian officials have not named the cause of the explosion, but preliminary accounts reported by Russian media point to possible safety violations in the workshop.
"This is a Russian tactic before any negotiations," Alina Alekseeva, the deputy head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, told the Kyiv Independent.
The Elysee Palace described the dialogue between the two leaders as "close and constant," but did not provide a specific date or location for the follow-up meeting.
Kateryna Denisova
