U.S. Defense Secretary Austin promises to stand by Ukraine as ministers meet in Brussels

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promised to stand by Ukraine at a meeting of allies attended by the country’s defence minister on Thursday (June 15). Addressing a meeting of defence ministers from the Contact Group of some 50 countries that give military aid to Ukraine, Austin stressed Kyiv needed both short-term and long-term support as the war was a “marathon, not a sprint.“ At the meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Austin noted the group had already given Patriot, IRIS-T and NASAMS air defence systems that had protected Ukraine from Russian missile attacks. But he said Ukraine needed even more. It was the 13th meeting of the group, which Washington set up last year to coordinate Western aid for Kyiv. Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov attended the meeting and was expected to brief his counterparts on Ukraine’s counter-offensive to retake more territory from Russian forces, which Kyiv launched this month. The campaign is expected to use hundreds of tanks and armoured vehicles supplied by the West. The Sun newspaper brings you the latest breaking news videos and explainers from the UK and around the world Become a Sun Subscriber and hit the bell to be the first to know Read The Sun: Like The Sun on Facebook: Follow The Sun on Twitter: Subscribe to The Sun on Snapchat: #russia #ukraine #war