US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the meeting of the leaders was taking place during a dynamic moment in Ukraine's fight against Russia, as it conducts its first offensive operations of the war while facing a significant threat from Russian forces near a key hub in the Donbas.
Friday was Zelenskiy's first time to come to the Ramstein Air Base to address the group, and he used the public appearance to stress that, in his view, what was needed most was for the US and the West to allow him to use the weapons they provided to strike deeper inside Russia, something the US has not supported out of concern it would further escalate the war.
"We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace," Zelenskiy told the members.
"We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or Putin."
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and other Western military leaders met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. (AP PHOTO)
So far the surprise assault inside Russia's Kursk territory has not drawn away President Vladimir Putin's focus from taking the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, which provides critical rail and supply links for the Ukrainian army.
Losing Pokrovsk could put additional Ukrainian cities at risk.
While Kursk has put Russia on the defensive, "we know Putin's malice runs deep", Austin cautioned in prepared remarks to the media before the Ukraine Defence Contact Group met.
Moscow was pressing on, especially around Pokrovsk, Austin said.
Recent deadly air strikes by Russia have renewed Zelenskiy's calls for the US to further loosen restrictions and obtain even greater Western capabilities to strike deeper inside Russia.
Today, — Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) @GenCQBrownJr and I will meet with our counterparts from nearly 50 nations to discuss our mutual support for Ukraine's fight for freedom. Our message today is clear: to keep the world safe, we must keep Ukraine sovereign and secure.September 6, 2024
However, the meeting on Friday was expected to focus on resourcing more air defence and artillery supplies and shoring up gains on expanding Ukraine's own defence industrial base, to put it on more solid footing as the final days of Joe Biden's US presidency approach.
Zelenskiy said he would continue to press for the long-range strike capability.
"Strong long-range decisions by partners are needed to bring the just peace we seek closer," he said on Friday on Telegram.
Western partner nations were working with Ukraine to source a substitute missile for its Soviet-era S-300 air defence systems, Austin said.
The US is also focused on resourcing a variety of air-to-ground missiles that the newly delivered F-16 fighter jets can carry, including the Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile, which could give Ukraine a longer-range cruise missile option, said Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, who spoke to reporters travelling with Austin.
A Russian conquest of Pokrovsk could put additional Ukrainian cities at risk. (AP PHOTO)
No decisions on the munition had been made, LaPlante said, noting policymakers would still have to decide whether to give Ukraine the longer-range capability.
For the past two years, members of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group have met to resource Ukraine's mammoth artillery and air defence needs, ranging from hundreds of millions of rounds of small arms ammunition to some of the West's most sophisticated air defence systems, and now fighter jets.
The request in September was more of the same but different in that it was in person, and followed a similar in-person visit on Thursday in Kyiv by Biden's deputy national security adviser Jon Finer as Zelenskiy shores up US support before the administration changes.
Since 2022, the member nations together have provided about $US106 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, of which the US has provided more than $US56 billion.
The German government said Chancellor Olaf Scholz planned to meet Zelenskiy in Frankfurt on Friday afternoon.
