U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met Tuesday at the U.S. base in Ramstein, Germany, with military representatives from 40 countries.

The goal is “remove heaven and earth” to increase the flow of arms to Ukraine and Russia were defeated in the war, according to Austin. The conference aims to get more countries to commit to shipping more weapons, especially the heavy weapons that kyiv was asking a few weeks before what was to come in the Donbas, where it feared Russia would launch a large-scale attack.

Austin said at the start of the meeting: “Ukraine believes it can win the war and here we are both thinking”.

Austin traveled to kyiv on Sunday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with President Volodimir Zelensky when Moscow openly confirmed that its purpose was conquer the whole of southern Ukraine.

The country will be cut off without some of its largest cities, its Zadorija nuclear power plant (the largest in Europe) and cities like Odessa. Russia there will be continuity of territory in Moldovawhere nearly 15,000 Russian soldiers are stationed in the Transnitria region, outside the control of the Moldovan government.

Ukraine is gradually getting what it wants. different governments they have already sent tanks, artillery and anti-aircraftnot just light weapons.

Even Germany, which until a few days ago said that shipping heavy weapons could cause the spread of war across Europe, announced on Tuesday a first shipment of tanks Type of gepard capable of defense against aircraft.

Ukraine needs artillery and weapons to fire from a distance to prevent Russian artillery from pushing back its lines.

Weapons to fight in the Donbas

Austin told Ramstein what the United States and its European partners are looking for: “We want to see Russia weaken in such a way that it can no longer do things like re -invade Ukraine.” Russia continues to gain land gradually in the Donbas in the face of the Ukrainian inability to cope with Moscow’s heavy weapons and aviation.

In addition to attacks on cities of the region to affect the morale of Ukrainians, the russian army continues to crush the ukrainian front with artillery and numerous rocket launchers, recognized the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense itself.

For that you need heavy weapons, to respond to those attacks with weapons of similar power and hinder Russian movements. Russian forces are also bombing communications centers and railways to prevent the West from bringing weapons to the east of the country.

The Ramstein summit coincided with the visit to Moscow by the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Portuguese Antonio Guterres.

“What interests us is to find ways to create conditions for an effective dialogue, to create conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible,” he said in Moscow. Then he will travel to kyiv.

This was the first trip of the Guterres to the area since the war began. The United Nations said on Tuesday that 5.2 million Ukrainians had to take refuge in other countries. could be more than 8 million by the end of the year.

Brussels, special for Clarín

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