Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg’s Minister of Defence; Rustem Umerov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine;
Credit: MAE
On Tuesday 19 March 2024, Luxembourg’s Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, participated in the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Ramstein, Germany.
Ahead of the UDCG plenary meeting, Yuriko Backes participated in the Capability Coalition Leadership Group. This training, bringing together the lead nations of the capability coalitions formed within the UDCG, aims to coordinate the work of the various military support initiatives for the benefit of Ukraine and to address cross-cutting issues. During this session, Yuriko Backes presented the concept and governance of the IT Coalition, under Luxembourg and Estonian leadership, whose objective is to provide the necessary equipment and software to modernise as well as secure the IT infrastructure and communications capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces. “As information technology is a catalyst for other military combat capabilities, we invite other coalitions to establish links with our 'IT Coalition' in order to identify possible synergies,” emphasised Yuriko Backes.
During the plenary session of the UDCG, Minister Backes presented the progress of the IT Coalition. To date, ten countries (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Ukraine) have signed the cooperation agreement and Great Britain has signed the declaration of intent to join the Coalition, Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defence noted. In 2023, Luxembourg contributed €10 million to initiate the first equipment purchases based on the priorities defined by Ukrainian Defence.
In the plenary session, Yuriko Backes also announced that Luxembourg will join the Artillery Coalition, under French and German leadership, which aims to provide Ukraine with 155mm cannons and shells, including the training of the Ukrainian armed forces. Thus, Luxembourg will participate in three of the eight capability coalitions: the IT Coalition, the Air Force Capability Coalition and the Artillery Coalition.
Finally, Yuriko Backes took stock of Luxembourg's military support for Ukraine. For 2024, the government's draft budget provides for military aid amounting to €69.5 million, this amount representing a minimum and not a ceiling. Since the last UDCG meeting, the Directorate of Defence has delivered 6,000 155mm shells, 4,000 submachine guns, 500,000 units of 12.7mm ammunition, ten generators as well as several medical equipment and thermal night vision cameras. “Other equipment has already been the subject of contracts and will be delivered in the coming weeks,” announced Yuriko Backes, and added, “in addition, Luxembourg will acquire, within the framework of Benelux cooperation, equipment additional drones.”
During this meeting of UDCG defence ministers in Ramstein, Yuriko Backes had an exchange with her counterparts, including Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defence of the United States, and Rustem Umerov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine.
The UDCG was created on the initiative of the United States Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, and currently brings together around fifty countries, including the 32 NATO Allies as well as other countries supporting Ukraine in the exercise of its right to self-defence against the Russian aggressor.
