WEBVTT

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Yes , sir . Good morning . And uh good

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morning to uh ministers , uh chiefs of

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defense and teams from the U DC G . Let

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me extend a warm welcome to our

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distinguished ministers and Chiefs of

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Defense and thank you for convening

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today's . Hi , we have somebody has a

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hot mic . Uh Could I ask everyone to uh

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check and , and mute yourself at this

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time ? Thank you . Um Let me welcome

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you to the 18th meeting of the Ukraine

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Defense Contact Group . I'm Celeste

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Wallander , Assistant Secretary of

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Defense for Policy and I will serve as

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facilitators for facilitator for

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today's contact group . Uh I would like

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to welcome Minister Umarov of Ukraine .

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We value your presence here with your

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team at the U DC G and we look forward

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to hearing from you shortly . But

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please first let me introduce Secretary

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of Defense Lloyd Austin to deliver

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introductory remarks . Mr Secretary

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over to you . Thanks to assist

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Assistant Secretary Wallander a good

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day , everyone . Uh Thanks for working

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across time zones uh to join us for the

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18th meeting of the Ukraine Defense

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Contact group . We're eager to enter

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this new year with new energy and we're

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all here to reaffirm our support for

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our free , secure and sovereign Ukraine

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and to ensure that we continue to get

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Ukraine the capabilities that it needs

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for the winter and beyond . Ukraine is

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not low around the world . Ukraine's

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friends have stepped up to help

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Ukraine's brave troops resist Putin's

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aggression and we formed an historic

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international coalition rooted in

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shared interests and common principles

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and the United States remains

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determined to support Ukraine in its

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fight for freedom . I'm especially glad

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that we're joined today by my friend ,

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Ukrainian defense Minister , Umarov

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Rusin . We look forward to hearing your

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report from the battlefield . Ukraine's

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fight is important for all of our

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countries . Ukraine's incredibly brave

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troops are continuing their battle

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against the Kremlin's invaders against

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the vast front line in Ukraine's east

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and South in bitter winter weather .

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Ukraine's defenders continue to inflict

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significant losses on the Kremlin's

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forces . Putin continues to

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sacrifice staggering numbers of Russian

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troops in his rash and reckless war of

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choice and Putin hopes that missiles

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and drones will demoralize the

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Ukrainian people and break the fighting

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spirit of the Ukrainian military . So I

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urge this group to dig deep to provide

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Ukraine with more life saving ground

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based air defense systems and

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interceptors . And Ukraine has answered

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Putin's cruelty with courage and

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defiance after almost two years of

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war , Ukraine's people and troops stand

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strong against Russian aggression and

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occupation . Russia's military has been

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badly weakened and demoralized .

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Russia's military continues

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to again make a significant

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sacrifices and Ukraine has taken back

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more than half of the sovereign

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territory grabbed by Russia since its

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unprovoked invasion . So let's be clear ,

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our support for Ukraine's struggle

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against tyranny , makes all of our

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countries more secure if we lose our

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nerve . If we flinch , if we

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fail to deter other would be aggressors .

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We will only invite even more bloodshed

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and more chaos . So a sovereign and

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secure Ukraine is critical to global

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security and we must not waver in our

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support for Ukraine . On December

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27th , United States announced an

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additional $250 million package to help

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meet Ukraine's urgent security needs .

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The package includes life saving , air

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defense munitions , air defense system

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components , ammunition for high Mars ,

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anti armor munitions , 155 millimeter

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and 105 millimeter artillery ,

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ammunition and medical equipment .

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The United States continues to work

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hard to monitor and account for us .

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Security assistance delivered to

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Ukraine and we've seen no credible

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evidence of the misuse or illicit

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diversion of American equipment

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provided to Ukraine . But what we do

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see is Ukraine using the capabilities

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that we provided to defend itself

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against Russian aggression .

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Now , I want to take a few minutes to

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commend the allies and partners who

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have risen to the moment and announced

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important new long term security

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assistance packages since we last met .

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This includes significant announcements

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by Estonia , Germany ,

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Latvia , Lithuania , the

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Netherlands , Norway , Sweden

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and the United Kingdom and so taken

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together these commitments will amount

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to billions of dollars in additional

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military aid for Ukraine . We must

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continue to focus both on Ukraine's

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immediate battlefield needs and on

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helping Ukraine to strengthen and

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modernize and sustain its defense

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forces for the long haul . And that's

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why the United States hosted the

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Ukraine Defense Industrial Based

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Conference in Washington last month

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with the goal of ushering in a new era

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of co-operation to meet Ukraine's long

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term security needs . We remain

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committed to strengthening Ukraine's

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defense industrial base and both to

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intensify Ukraine current fight and

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to boost its long term deterrence . Uh

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allies and partners are working proudly

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beside us and the members of this

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contact group have shown a profound and

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principled commitment to Ukraine's

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enduring security . I'm especially

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grateful to our allies and partners for

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your commitment to leading this contact

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group's capability coalitions and that

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includes Denmark , Estonia , France ,

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Germany , Lithuania , Luxembourg ,

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the Netherlands , Norway and the United

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Kingdom . Together our allies and

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partners have established six

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capability coalitions to support

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Ukraine's Air Force ground based Air

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defenses , artillery , maritime

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security , demining and information

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technology . And so we've made

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impressive progress since our last

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meeting and I'm proud that the United

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States is co leading the Artillery

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Capability coalition along with France

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and also co leading the Air Force

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Capability coalition alongside Denmark

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and the Netherlands . And that's just

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another reminder of how much we can do

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when we come together , the security of

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the entire international community is

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on the line in Ukraine's fight and I am

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more determined than ever to work with

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our allies and partners to support

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Ukraine and to get the job done . So

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thanks for joining us and I'll pass it

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back now to assistant secretary Wander

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and we'll pause while our friend from

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the media depart .