BRUSSELS, Jan 23 – U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is convinced that a sovereign and secure Ukraine is crucial for global security, and therefore he called on the participants of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the so-called Ramstein group, to continue to provide Ukraine with even more assistance.

On Tuesday, opening the virtual meeting, he said: "So let's be clear. Our support for Ukraine's struggle against tyranny makes all of our countries more secure. If we lose our nerve, if we flinch, if we fail to deter other would-be aggressors, we will only invite even more bloodshed and chaos. So a sovereign and secure Ukraine is critical to global security. And we must not waver in our support for Ukraine."