Ukraine's Minister of Defense Hennadii Hmara confirmed, following a phone call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, that Kyiv and the Alliance have coordinated key priorities ahead of the next Rammstein-format meeting, which, according to the head of the defense ministry, is set to take place in the coming days. This was reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, as cited by RBC-Ukraine. According to Hmara's own assessment, the conversation was aimed at preparing an "effective" meeting at which concrete decisions would be made on defending the Ukrainian front.
Negotiation Focus: Air Defense and Additional Funding
The central element of the phone dialogue was the preparation of Ukraine's top-priority needs in defending against Russian aggression. As Hmara emphasized, the key topics for discussion at the Rammstein meeting will be the supply of air defense systems and additional funding for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Ukraine expects further unity among partners and prompt decisions necessary to protect lives and strengthen the front," the defense minister stated, stressing that this is not about abstract declarations but about concrete mechanisms capable of affecting the operational situation in the shortest possible time.
Recognition of PURL's Role and Special Supply Mechanisms
Separately, Hmara expressed gratitude to the Alliance and to Mark Rutte personally for the effective support of the Ukrainian army, specifically highlighting the work of the special supply mechanisms. In particular, the head of the Ministry of Defense mentioned the PURL program (Presidential Urgent Response and Lend-Lease), which, in his words, enables the supply of critically important equipment and materials. This public acknowledgment of PURL's significance at the defense minister level carries symbolic weight: the program, launched in 2024 as an instrument for the operational financing of weapons purchases, has in fact become one of the structural elements of Ukraine's defense architecture within the framework of Western support.
Context: Parallel Dialogue with Berlin
The phone call with Rutte is not an isolated event. Recently, Hmara held similar talks with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius, during which the two sides discussed the continuation of defense support for Ukraine. Hmara outlined the key threats in detail, singling out jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles. The minister placed particular emphasis on the importance of effective command and control within the troops: in his words, "the vision of the war must reach every unit on the front, not remain at the level of senior leadership." This rhetoric indicates that Kyiv, alongside diplomatic synchronization with its allies, is working on its internal command structure.
What This Means for the Upcoming Rammstein Meeting
The totality of Hmara's statements allows one to conclude that the next Rammstein-format meeting will focus on two practical blocks: first, accelerating the supply of air defense systems, which is directly linked to the growing intensity of Russian strikes on civilian and military infrastructure; and second, finding additional sources of funding for the AFU, including the possible expansion of mechanisms such as PURL. The public fixation of these priorities before the meeting itself is standard practice that allows participants' positions to be coordinated and the risk of diverging views in the meeting room to be minimized.
