
The U.S. on Thursday approved $500 million in new weapons aid for Ukraine, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also urged that the international coalition coordinating security assistance efforts “must continue.” Austin hosted his 25th and final meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, amid uncertainty as to whether the incoming Trump administration will continue the effort and assistance efforts more broadly. “I'm leaving this Contact Group not with a farewell, but with a challenge.…