UK Will Take Lead on Ramstein Meetings For Now, Whitehall Says

The UK’s Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday that its defense secretary, John Healy, will lead the next meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group (UDCG), otherwise known as the Ramstein group, set for February 12.

Newly appointed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to attend, but unlike in Ramstein meetings past, the Pentagon’s leader will not be driving the agenda. At last month’s roundtable, just days before US President Donald Trump took office, the meeting was chaired by former US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.

NATO defense ministers will gather in Brussels the next day, Friday, February 13.

Trump has not announced any initiatives to send Ukraine more weapons, focusing instead on drafting a peace proposal to end the war. US special envoy to Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg was expected to be presenting those details to the Munich Security Conference next week, as per a Bloomberg News report on Wednesday, but Kellogg refuted that report on Thursday in an interview with a conservative television outlet.

It has not been ruled out that the US could resume leadership of the group once Washington announces plans to provide more military aid.

The Ramstein group, named after the NATO base in Germany where the 50-some allies of Kyiv meet regularly, was formed in 2022 to form a coalition of countries to provide all levels of security to Ukraine to defend against Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion.

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“The UDCG will gather ahead of the NATO Defense Ministerial Meeting to discuss priorities for Ukraine as the international community continues to work together to support Ukraine in its fight against Putin’s illegal invasion,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

According to the most recent data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the UK stood as the third-largest individual contributor of military aid to Ukraine after the United States and Germany. Between January 22, 2022 and October 31, 2024, the US contributed the equivalent of about €60 billion in total military aid, followed by Germany at €11 billion and the UK at €10 billion.

Last month, the Whitehall Gardens Building announced the equivalent of a $5.6 billion “boost” in Britain’s military aid to Kyiv in 2025.

“The £4.5 billion boost for Ukraine in 2025 will see the UK will procure hundreds more air defense systems, drones and essential equipment support to sustain Ukrainian forces on the front line,” the UK Ministry of Defense posted in a January 16 release.

In terms of humanitarian and financial aid, the EU is far and away the leader, having contributed more than €43 billion in that same period.

Meanwhile, Trump has put a 90-day freeze on all foreign humanitarian aid, and again, has given no indication of resuming military aid to Ukraine. Even a shipment of military equipment from the US was held up in Poland last week, Politico reported.