Austin: Italy and France will provide Ukraine with SAMP/T air defense system

"We heard today about significant new air defense donations. That includes Italy and France who jointly announced that they will provide Ukraine with SAMP/T air defense system," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He emphasized that the international coalition members agreed on the need to do everything possible to provide Ukraine with as many air defense capabilities as possible and to integrate them into a single system.

"And I would add that Ukraine has done incredible job of intercepting a lot of the rockets and missiles launched by Russia in recent attacks. But we want to make sure that they [Ukrainians] have capabilities to defend themselves," Austin added.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense also announced other contributions from the Contact Group members. In particular, according to him, France and Australia agreed to send additional 155mm ammunition to Ukraine.

“And finally, let me also thank Norway which has just announced that it will provide 7.5 billion euros in military and civilian assistance to Ukraine over the coming five years. That’s a very important commitment," Austin said.

In addition, according to him, during the meeting in Brussels, synchronization of efforts was discussed to ensure the training of Ukrainian units to use equipment transferred to the Armed Forces. In this context, he noted that the Allies sent Ukraine equipment and weapons for more than eight combat brigades in total.