RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Emphasizing that the United States was prepared to support Ukraine “for the long haul,” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said Thursday that Washington will send an additional $675 million in military supplies to Ukraine, including air-launched missiles designed to destroy enemy radars.
The new shipment — which will also include 105-millimeter howitzers, artillery ammunition, vehicles, anti-armor weapons and guided rockets — was announced as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken pledged an additional $2 billion in long-term support for Ukraine and other countries at risk of Russian invasion.
In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said both aid packages would help in “making a common cause, defending freedom.”
“Each of these steps of our partners has a real impact on the strength of our state and the whole of Europe in defense against Russian terror,” he said.
Russian officials — who requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday to discuss western arms supplies to Ukraine — have long blamed the United States and NATO for instigating the conflict. Even so, the Russian ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, told the Council it was a “fantasy” to think that Western powers could determine the course of the fighting with its weapons supplies.
“Western weaponry is not playing a decisive role in the battlefield regardless of what the Ukrainians are saying,” Mr. Nebenzya said.
As the conflict nears its seventh month, President Biden met by videoconference on Thursday with allies and partners, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and Prime Minister Liz Truss of Britain, underscoring the international commitment to maintain support for Ukraine.
Mr. Biden authorized the additional drawdown of military goods from Pentagon stockpiles — the 20th since the invasion began — on Wednesday, Mr. Austin told dozens of defense ministers at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Addressing members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of 50 countries that are helping Ukraine with military and humanitarian aid, Mr. Austin urged the nations to increase their production of munitions to help repel the Russian invasion. He proposed bringing together under the group’s auspices the high-level officials who oversee defense acquisitions and serve as the main liaisons of their governments to their domestic defense industries.
“That means reinvigorating our defense industrial bases to match both Ukraine’s priorities and our own needs,” Mr. Austin said. “And it means coming up with new ways to accelerate our production of key capabilities.”
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group was formed in late April as Russia’s ground forces stalled near Kyiv and shifted to massing artillery against troops and towns in eastern Ukraine. According to defense officials, representatives from 42 nations attended Thursday’s meeting in person, while eight joined via videoconference.
Flanked by Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defense minister, Mr. Austin said Ukraine’s armed forces had “inspired the world with their determination to defend their democracy” and pledged his continued support in their fight against Russia.
“We’re here to renew our commitment, and intensify our momentum, to support the brave defenders of Ukraine for the long term,” he added.
Britain has sent a second round of armored Multiple Launch Rocket System vehicles as well as guided artillery rockets, Mr. Austin said. Ukrainian forces now have 26 advanced rocket systems between the MLRS launchers and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, that had already been supplied to Ukraine, he said.
The rockets fired by these launch vehicles, called GMLRS, each contain a warhead with 200 pounds of explosives and have been used by Ukrainian forces to destroy Russian arms depots as well as command and control centers.
“I know that we’re all going to leave Ramstein this time with even greater momentum,” Mr. Austin said. “We’ve done so much and we’re determined to do even more, and I know that we’re going to deepen our shared resolve to help the people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom.”
Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, uses older Soviet-era artillery and more modern Western howitzers. Col. Dave Butler, a spokesman for General Milley, noted that supplying munitions for both types of weapons to Kyiv complicates the Pentagon’s logistics and resupply efforts.
“Russia is firing its artillery at a much higher rate than Ukraine is, but Ukraine’s artillery fires are more effective,” Colonel Butler added.
Of the 50 nations in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Colonel Butler said, “close to 20” were providing either NATO-standard 155-millimeter ammunition or Soviet-designed 152-millimeter ammunition.
Some members have sent money to Ukraine instead of weapons, he said.
Farnaz Fassihi contributed reporting.
