German defence minister: will consider changing Ramstein format if US withdraws
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German defence minister: will consider changing Ramstein format if US withdraws
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday that a regular gathering of allies aimed at speeding up and synchronising arms deliveries to Ukraine was best kept under US leadership, with an eye to the new Trump administration.
"And if those in the United States now decide not to maintain this format any longer, then we will have to make our own decisions," said Pistorius at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG).
He added that it was too early to speculate on what could happen to the format after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Pistorius added that he was "astonished" by Trump's refusal to rule out using military or economic action to pursue the acquisition of Greenland but was optimistic the president-elect's comments would not influence modern U.S. policy.
"I don't know exactly what he's aiming for, but allies and alliances are set up to stay that way and otherwise they'd just be loose alliances and not allies," said Pistorius.
The group, comprised of about 50 allies who usually meet every few months at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, was started in 2022 by outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Pistorius said Germany would be providing further guided missiles to Ukraine for the IRIS-T systems, initially intended for the German army, at short notice, and would stick to its schedule for delivering the systems it promised.
