WEBVTT

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And uh good evening to participants .

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First , let me extend a warm welcome to

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our distinguished ministers and Chiefs

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of Defense . Thank you for convening

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for today's 22nd meeting of the Ukraine

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Defense Contact group . I'm Laura

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Cooper , Deputy Assistant Secretary of

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Defense and I will serve as

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facilitators for today's contact group .

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I would like to welcome Minister Umarov

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and the Ukrainian delegation for

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today's meeting . As always , we are

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grateful for your attendance and

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looking forward to hearing from you

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shortly as the first order of business .

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I'd like to introduce Secretary of

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Defense Lloyd Austin who will now

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provide some introductory remarks . Mr

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Secretary over to you . Thanks Laura .

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Hello everyone . It's great to see uh

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everyone again and thanks for joining

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us for the 22nd meeting of the Ukraine

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defense contact group . Let me start by

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welcoming our partners from Ukraine

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Minister Umarov and your teammates .

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And we're meeting at a moment of

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challenge . Putin's invaders have

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launched another offensive onto

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sovereign Ukraine territory and the

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Kremlin's forces will try to make

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further advances in the weeks ahead and

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try to carve out a buffer zone along

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the Ukrainian border . This is a hard

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and dangerous fight . But Ukraine's

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defenders are showing extraordinary

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courage and skill and they're putting

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the capabilities that this contact

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group has provided to good use .

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Putin's new offensive in Kharkiv just

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underscores the importance of this

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contact group . Some 50 countries of

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conscience from around the world are

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standing up for Ukraine again today and

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we're going to continue to get Ukraine

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the support that it needs . The United

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States remains determined to do our

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part . We are again delivering urgently

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needed assistance to Ukraine and the

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security assistance that we are now

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rushing to . Ukraine will make a

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difference in this fight that includes

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155 millimeter artillery rounds and

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ammunition for high Mars . It includes

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air defense capabilities and anti armor

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systems which come from a billion

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dollar drawdown from our stocks after

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President Biden signed the national

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security supplemental last month . And

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thanks to the passage of the

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supplemental , we'll continue to

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approve substantial security assistance

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packages for Ukraine and you'll see a

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steady flow of us assistance to Ukraine .

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Week after week , President Biden

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announced an additional package worth

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$400 million earlier this month and

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that will help Ukraine defend Kharkiv

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in other front line areas under renewed

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Russian threat . We've already

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delivered many of Ukraine's top

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priority requirements and much more

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assistance is on the way that includes

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additional munitions for NA Sams and

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Patriot air defense systems . More high

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r systems and ammunition , stinger ,

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anti aircraft missiles and javelin and

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A T four armored , any armor systems .

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This package also includes armored

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vehicles and that's essential for

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Ukraine's work to reconstitute its

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arsenal . Meanwhile , our fellow

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contact group members continue to step

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up to meet Ukraine's most urgent needs

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together . They have now committed more

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than $95 billion in security assistance

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to Ukraine since the start of Putin's

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full scale invasion in February of 2022 .

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Now the Kremlin continues to intensify

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its bombardment of Ukraine using

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Russian missiles and Iranian drones to

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strike more civilian targets across the

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Ukraine's territory and to put more

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innocent civilians and Ukrainians in

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the crosshairs . So air defense will be

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high on our agenda today and I'll be

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urging all of our valued allies and

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partners to reassess their ability to

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get Ukraine the air defense

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capabilities that it so urgently needs .

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Now , even as we work together to blunt

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Putin's renewed assault , we'll

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continue to build towards Ukraine's

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long term security . We now have eight

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capability coalitions up and running

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and that provides a sustainable ,

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practical and nimble mechanism for our

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allies and partners to coordinate with

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one another and to meet Ukraine's

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immediate needs and to build a

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formidable and sustainable future force

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to ward off future Russian aggression .

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I'm grateful for the work that all of

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our leads and co leads uh of the

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capability coalitions are are doing and

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that includes coordinating cross ,

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cross cutting issues through the cape

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billy coalition leadership group and

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I'm looking forward to hearing the

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updates today from the maritime

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coalition and the integrated air and

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missile defense coalition . Ladies and

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gentlemen , the weeks and months ahead

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will be crucial . So we'll continue to

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act with resolve Ukraine's

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survival and success are central to

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Ukrainian security , European security ,

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global security in American security .

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If Putin prevails tyrants will conclude

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that they can also try to invade and

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conquer their sovereign neighbors and

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that will leave Europe under Putin's

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shadow and make the world more violent

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and chaotic . So Ukraine's struggle for

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freedom and security matters to us all .

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And I am more determined than ever to

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ensure that Ukraine has what it needs

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to succeed . And with that , let me

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pause for a moment while our friends in

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the media depart .