Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin used their final meeting on Thursday to urge the incoming Trump administration not to abandon Kyiv’s fight, warning that halting military support now “will only invite more aggression, chaos and war.”
“We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not continue building on the defence coalitions we’ve created,” Zelenskyy said.
“No matter what’s happening in the world, everyone wants to feel certain that their country will not simply be erased from the map.” Austin also announced that the US would send another $500 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including missiles for fighter jets, sustainment equipment for F-16s, armoured bridging systems, and small arms and ammunition.
The weapons are funded through presidential drawdown authority, meaning they can be pulled directly from US stockpiles, and the Pentagon is aiming to deliver them to Ukraine before the end of the month.
This latest package leaves around USD 3.85 billion in funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine; if the Biden administration makes no further announcements, that balance will be available for President-elect Donald Trump to allocate should he choose.
“If Putin swallows Ukraine, his appetite will only grow,” Austin told the approximately 50 member nations who have been meeting for the last three years to coordinate weapons and military support for Ukraine.
“If autocrats conclude that democracies will lose their nerve, surrender their interests, and forget their principles, we will only see more land grabs. If tyrants learn that aggression pays, we will only invite even more aggression, chaos, and war,” he said.
Austin leads a consortium that now includes more than half a dozen independent coalitions of countries focused on Ukraine’s long-term security capabilities and committed to supporting those needs through 2027.
Globally, nations including the US have increased domestic weapons production as the Ukraine war revealed that stockpiles were woefully unprepared for a major conventional land conflict.
The US has provided about $66 billion in total aid since February 2022 and has delivered most of that—between 80% and 90%—to Ukraine.
“Retreat will only provide incentives for more imperial aggression,” Austin told the group. “And if we flinch, you can count on Putin to push further and punch harder. Ukraine’s survival is on the line. But so is the security of Europe, the United States, and the world.”
