OPEN LETTER: To Our Allies Gathered at Ramstein — $1.7 Billion Is Not Enough, But It's a Start

OPEN LETTER: To Our Allies Gathered at Ramstein — $1.7 Billion Is Not Enough, But It's a Start

Introduction: Brussels, June 18, 2026 — the 35th Meeting

A tradition of solidarity that holds

On June 18, 2026, in Brussels, representatives of nearly fifty nations gathered for the 35th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — the so-called Ramstein format. Since its creation in April 2022, this forum has coordinated tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine. The 35th edition produced a consolidated announcement of more than $1.7 billion.

This meeting deserves closer attention — not because $1.7 billion is enough (it is not), but because it illustrates something fundamental: the enduring cohesion of a coalition of democracies facing a war of aggression that Moscow expected to resolve in a matter of weeks. Four years after the start of the full-scale invasion, Ramstein holds. That is far from trivial.

What this letter is here to say

I am addressing you — defense ministers, ambassadors, political and military leaders gathered in Brussels — not to criticize your shortcomings but to remind you of what you actually accomplished on June 18, and what still remains to be done. $1.7 billion announced. Of which approximately $1.2 billion for air defense, primarily through the PURL mechanism (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List). And approximately $540 million for long-range artillery ammunition.

This is not rhetoric. These figures translate into Patriot missiles, drones, howitzers. They translate into Ukrainian lives saved. And at the same time, every night of massive strikes like the one on June 15 — 70 missiles, 611 drones targeting Kyiv and other cities — reminds us how far the needs still exceed what we are delivering.

The PURL Mechanism: This War's Silent Innovation

Buying American with European money

The PURL mechanism — Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List — is one of the most significant institutional innovations of this war. It allows European allies to fund the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine, bypassing the legislative bottlenecks that have sometimes slowed direct aid from Washington. Of the $1.2 billion for air defense, close to a billion flows through this mechanism.

The leading PURL contributors at this 35th meeting are Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden. These four nations have grasped something others have yet to internalize: funding Patriot systems for Ukraine costs less than funding their own rearmament after a Russian victory in Europe. That is rational strategic calculation dressed as solidarity — and it is precisely what the situation calls for.

Patriot missiles: the backbone of survival

Through the PURL, Ukraine receives missiles for its Patriot systems — the only platforms currently capable of reliably intercepting ballistic Iskander-M and hypersonic Zirkon missiles. Without these missiles, Ukrainian interception rates would collapse. The 5 Zirkons out of 6 shot down during the June 15 strike are a feat made possible by these continuous deliveries.

Germany goes further: it is allocating an additional €200 million through the JUMPSTART program for long-term Patriot missile procurement. This is not a tactical decision — it is a strategic one that commits Germany to Ukrainian security beyond the immediate emergency. After years of Berlin's hesitation, this kind of commitment deserves recognition.

The United Kingdom and Its 150,000 Drones: A Logistical Revolution

£752 million, 150,000 drones made in Ukraine

The United Kingdom announced at the Brussels meeting an aid package of £752 million (approximately $1 billion), funded by interest generated by frozen Russian assets through the ERA (Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration) mechanism. This package includes 150,000 Ukrainian-made drones to be delivered by end of 2026, as well as more than 350 anti-aircraft missiles and radars, including Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM).

The detail that changes everything: the drones are of Ukrainian manufacture. The United Kingdom is not delivering British drones — it is funding Ukrainian drone production on Ukrainian soil. That is a crucial distinction: it means that Russian strikes on Western logistics and supply chains will not interrupt this flow. This is industrial resilience built deliberately.

The ERA: Russian money protecting Ukraine

The ERA loan of £2.26 billion ($3 billion) is backed by revenues generated by Russian assets frozen in the West. That is a legal and political elegance I appreciate: Putin's money being used to fund Ukrainian resistance against Putin. Moscow froze Ukraine in war — its own frozen assets now fund the army resisting it.

UK Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis met Zelensky in Brussels before the announcement. In a world where diplomatic meetings are often theater, this one had concrete content: 150,000 drones, 350 missiles, a multinational headquarters command that the United Kingdom takes over in July under General Tom Bateman. Numbers. Names. Dates. That is real solidarity.

Belgium and Its Seven F-16s: A Promise Finally Kept

Four years late, seven fighters delivered

Belgium announced at the Brussels meeting the delivery of seven F-16s to Ukraine by end of 2026. Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken presented this decision at a press conference held in Brussels on the sidelines of the NATO ministerial meeting. Of these seven aircraft, three will be operational for combat missions in the ranks of the Ukrainian air force, while four will serve as a source of spare parts.

This is not nothing — but it is also a statement of fact: Belgium, which owns more than 40 F-16s, is delivering seven aircraft after years of unfulfilled promises. The Belgian prime minister had announced a delivery schedule during a visit to Kyiv, but those promises had evaporated into administrative delays. Francken implicitly acknowledged this delay by noting that earlier deliveries — four non-operational aircraft for parts — had never been officially formalized.

Francken and the future: all Belgian F-16s for Ukraine?

Minister Francken goes further: he intends to propose, in the years ahead, the transfer of Belgium's entire F-16 fleet to Ukraine once Belgium has received its replacement F-35s. That is a significant announcement — conditional, certainly — but one that marks a shift in doctrine in Belgian defense policy. Belgium, long criticized for its military underinvestment, is beginning to act like a country that understands the existential stakes of a war on its eastern border.

Francken justified the dispatch of operational aircraft by pointing out that F-16s have proven themselves against Shahed drones and cruise missiles — the same ones attacking Kyiv night after night. That is not a rhetorical argument. It is a field-validated assessment confirmed by months of Ukrainian operations.

The $540 Million for Munitions: The Artillery War Continues

Norway, Denmark, Spain leading the way

The $540 million for long-range artillery ammunition represents another critical dimension of Ramstein aid. The primary contributors to this envelope are Norway, Denmark, Spain, Lithuania, and Luxembourg. These countries do not make headlines, but their contributions to the Ukrainian artillery logistics chain are essential.

The artillery war remains the core of the ground effort in Ukraine. At Kostiantynivka, at Pokrovsk, at Chasiv Yar — everywhere that Russians are pushing with their infantry waves, it is Ukrainian artillery that slows, stops, and counter-attacks. These $540 million for ammunition are not spectacular to announce at a press conference, but they are vital in the reality of the trenches.

The logistics chain under pressure

Europe has understood since 2022 that its defense industries were not scaled for high-intensity warfare. Massive investments have been committed to tripling the production of 155 mm artillery ammunition. But supply chains take time to adjust. The $540 million announced at Ramstein will notably enable long-term orders that secure production beyond the immediate emergency.

This is a lesson the West is learning the hard way: deterrence only works when it is backed by real industrial capacity. Pledges of support without the stocks behind them are diplomatic noise. The 35 Ramstein meetings have progressively imposed the discipline of the concrete: announce what you deliver, deliver what you announce.

What Ramstein Actually Represents

Fifty nations, one shared commitment

The Ramstein format — named after the American air base in Germany where it was founded in April 2022 — brings together nearly fifty nations. It is a coalition of wills with no equivalent in recent history: neither NATO, nor the UN, nor the G7 produces coordination as specifically focused on the military support of a single country at war.

This coalition has held. Despite changes of government, despite electoral pressures in several member countries, despite Moscow's attempts to divide the West, despite American hesitations under Trump — Ramstein holds. Thirty-five meetings. Tens of billions coordinated. A Ukraine that strikes Volgograd with its own missiles and holds its lines in Donetsk. That is not trivial.

What Ramstein cannot do

Ramstein cannot decide on behalf of national governments. It cannot compel the United States to increase bilateral aid. It cannot accelerate weapons procurement processes when industries lack capacity. It cannot replace a courageous political decision with a coordination mechanism.

The 35th meeting produced $1.7 billion. That is good. It is insufficient. Russia spends far larger sums each month sustaining its war effort, backed by China, Iran, and North Korea. The economic imbalance remains real, even if Ukrainian morale and technology partially compensate.

The Geopolitical Context: NATO, Trump, and the Future

Trump: absent but present

The 35th Ramstein meeting took place at the same moment the Trump administration was presenting Congress with a request for $87.6 billion to fund the war in Iran. The irony is lost on no one: Washington is absorbed by its own war in the Middle East while its European allies are organizing support for Ukraine in Brussels.

Trump is not directly present at Ramstein — the format is coordinated by the American Secretary of Defense. But his shadow hangs over every meeting: allies know the American umbrella is conditional, that commitments can be renegotiated, that Washington can withdraw or become distracted. That is why Europeans are investing now — not because of Trump, but because of what Trump has revealed about the contingent nature of American leadership.

Rutte's NATO: a new departure

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte oversaw this 35th meeting in a context of growing pressure on Alliance members to reach the 2% of GDP in defense spending target. Trump pushed that target to 5% — a figure almost no country can reach quickly. But the psychological effect is real: European allies are investing more, building more, and depending less on an unconditional American promise.

This gradual recalibration of European security is one of the lasting — paradoxically positive — consequences of Trump's policies. By threatening to withdraw the American umbrella, he forced Europe to take its own defense seriously. The $1.7 billion from Ramstein, funded primarily by Europeans, is an illustration of that recalibration in action.

The F-16s in Ukraine: A Mid-Course Assessment

Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium: a fleet taking shape

With the seven Belgian F-16s announced at Ramstein, Ukraine continues building its fleet of Western fighter aircraft. Denmark and the Netherlands pioneered this transfer program, delivering the first F-16s in 2024. The operational experience accumulated since then has demonstrated the value of these aircraft against Shahed drones and cruise missiles.

The interception capacity of June 15 — 582 drones out of 611 shot down — owes something to the F-16s that participated in air defense operations for the first time in this configuration. It is not the only factor, but it is a factor. Each additional F-16 improves coverage, reduces pressure on surface-to-air systems, and extends the protected zone above Ukraine.

What Ukraine still needs

Zelensky, at the G7 in Évian, raised two priority needs: additional Patriot systems and American licenses to produce anti-ballistic systems in Ukraine. These requests go beyond what Ramstein can decide alone — they involve sovereign American decisions on intellectual property and technology transfers.

But Ramstein's decisions create the political context that facilitates these requests. When fifty nations commit $1.7 billion to Ukrainian air defense, they send a signal to Washington: the coalition holds, Ukraine is supported, and additional requests fit within a collective logic rather than an isolated plea.

Financing the War: Frozen Russian Assets as Leverage

$300 billion frozen, barely tapped

Approximately $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets have been frozen in the West since 2022, primarily in Belgium (via Euroclear) and the European Union. These assets generate substantial interest — estimated at several billion per year. The British ERA mechanism uses this mechanism at the national level. The EU has launched a similar mechanism for loans to Ukraine.

The question that remains open: can we go further and confiscate the principal, not just the interest? This question is the subject of intense legal debate within the EU and the United States. Some legal experts believe complete confiscation is legally possible within the framework of Russia's war of aggression. Others warn against the precedent it would set for sovereign reserves worldwide. This debate is not yet settled.

Russian money as a tool of justice and defense

Using the interest from frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's defense is not just a practical decision — it is a symbolically just one. Russia involuntarily financing Ukrainian resistance is a reversal of logic that carries moral weight beyond its financial significance.

The 35th Ramstein meeting showed this mechanism works at national scale (British ERA) and can be expanded. Discussions for a more ambitious European mechanism continue. Every billion generated by Putin's assets and reinvested in Ukrainian defense is a symbolic victory as much as a strategic one.

What Continuity Means: 35 Meetings Later

The fight against ally fatigue

Ally fatigue is real. Four years of war, tens of billions committed, fluctuating public opinions, elections across dozens of member states — the Ramstein format could have unraveled under these pressures. It has not. The 35 meetings stand as testament to that.

This continuity is partly the result of remarkably tenacious Ukrainian diplomacy. Zelensky and his team have kept Ukraine present on Western political agendas with a discipline and inventiveness that borders on the extraordinary. But it also reflects something more fundamental: Western democracies have recognized, however imperfectly, that Ukraine's defeat would be a defeat of their own values.

The message to Moscow

Every Ramstein meeting is a message to Moscow: the coalition holds. Putin bet on Western fatigue. He bet that democracies would not be able to sustain their support over multiple years. Thirty-five meetings and tens of billions later, that bet is being lost.

This is not a definitive victory. The war continues with an intensity that outpaces what Ramstein's figures can absorb. Kostiantynivka is resisting under pressure. Kharkiv is regularly struck. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra still burns in memory. But the fact that Ramstein continues to produce concrete commitments — figures, names, dates, deliveries — is a sign that Putin's bet on Western collapse is not materializing as expected.

To You, Decision-Makers in Brussels: What I Expect Now

Accelerate European defense production

I am addressing this letter to you not from a diplomat's desk but from the position of an observer who sees the reality of the war through ISW reports, Ukrainian press conferences, and images of burning cathedrals. What I expect from you now, after this 35th meeting:

First: accelerate European defense production. Industrial capacities exist, needs are documented, funding is coming. But production timelines remain too long. Every month's delay in delivering a batch of ammunition translates into kilometers lost or held at the cost of blood. Urgency is not a figure of speech.

Honor the commitment beyond the next electoral cycle

Second: honor the commitment beyond the next electoral cycle. The 35th meeting is a success. But will the 40th be convened with the same energy? The 50th? Support for Ukraine must be institutionalized at the national and supranational levels to withstand changes of government.

Multi-year frameworks, automatic financing mechanisms backed by Russian assets, commitments embedded in national security doctrines: that is what transforms crisis solidarity into lasting strategic support. Ukraine needs to know it will not be abandoned the next time polling shifts in a European country.

Complementary Analysis: Dimensions and Perspectives

Structural factors that are often overlooked

Any analysis of this situation would benefit from integrating the structural dimensions operating behind the immediate events. Long-term dynamics — economic, demographic, technological — shape the context in which political and military decisions are made. Ignoring these dimensions means analyzing the surface without understanding the underlying reality.

These structural factors are not theoretical abstractions — they translate into very concrete constraints for decision-makers. Defense industrial capacity, ammunition stockpiles, the availability of qualified human resources, the state of public finances: these are material realities that determine the real options available, independently of stated intentions.

What the broader geopolitical context reveals

This situation fits within a geopolitical context broader than the war in Ukraine alone. The great-power competition — between the West on one side, and Russia, China, Iran and their allies on the other — fundamentally structures the dynamics under observation. Understanding this backdrop is indispensable for assessing the real stakes.

Decisions that appear tactical on the surface are often strategic in depth. What is being decided today in Western capitals, on Ukrainian battlefields, and in negotiating rooms does not concern only Ukraine — it concerns the global security architecture that will emerge from this period of turbulence.

Complementary Analysis: Dimensions and Perspectives

Structural factors that are often overlooked

Any analysis of this situation would benefit from integrating the structural dimensions operating behind the immediate events. Long-term dynamics — economic, demographic, technological — shape the context in which political and military decisions are made. Ignoring these dimensions means analyzing the surface without understanding the underlying reality.

These structural factors are not theoretical abstractions — they translate into very concrete constraints for decision-makers. Defense industrial capacity, ammunition stockpiles, the availability of qualified human resources, the state of public finances: these are material realities that determine the real options available, independently of stated intentions.

What the broader geopolitical context reveals

This situation fits within a geopolitical context broader than the war in Ukraine alone. The great-power competition — between the West on one side, and Russia, China, Iran and their allies on the other — fundamentally structures the dynamics under observation. Understanding this backdrop is indispensable for assessing the real stakes.

Decisions that appear tactical on the surface are often strategic in depth. What is being decided today in Western capitals, on Ukrainian battlefields, and in negotiating rooms does not concern only Ukraine — it concerns the global security architecture that will emerge from this period of turbulence.

Critical Synthesis: What We Take Away and What We Anticipate

Key lessons from this situation

After working through the different dimensions of this file, several key lessons emerge. The first is the primacy of facts over declared intentions — in a war as in a negotiation, what matters is not promises but concrete, verifiable actions. This principle guides every reading of geopolitical current events.

The second lesson concerns the unpredictable nature of geopolitical dynamics. The most significant events of this period — Ukrainian strikes on Moscow, Rutte's chart, decisions by the American Supreme Court — were not all predictable a few months earlier. Epistemic caution is a virtue in crisis analysis.

What the coming months could reveal

The horizon of the coming months contains several determining variables. The American midterm elections in November, the resolution or escalation of the Ukrainian conflict, trade negotiations with China, the implementation of Iranian agreements — all elements whose evolution will reshape the geopolitical context in which all actors must navigate.

Faced with this uncertainty, the best analytical posture is to remain attentive to weak signals while maintaining a solid structural perspective. The underlying trends — European rearmament, Ukraine's growing capability, Sino-Western tensions — are more reliable than daily events for anticipating the general direction of coming developments.

Conclusion: Ramstein Holds, Ukraine Holds, the West Must Hold

35 meetings of solidarity in action

The 35th meeting of the Ramstein format produced $1.7 billion in aid to Ukraine: $1.2 billion for air defense through PURL, $540 million for ammunition, 150,000 British-funded Ukrainian drones, seven Belgian F-16s, an additional €200 million from Germany for Patriots. These are concrete figures, commitments that will translate into deliveries before year's end.

It is not enough. The war continues with an intensity that exceeds what Ramstein's figures can absorb. But it is real, it is constant, and it marks a coalition that did not yield to the fatigue Moscow counted on. Ramstein holds. Ukraine holds. And the West, despite its contradictions, its delays, and its electoral calculations, holds too — one meeting at a time.

My open letter closes with one simple request

I am asking you to come back for the 36th meeting with more. More Patriot missiles. More F-16s. More financing backed by Russian assets. More decisions built to last rather than to meet this quarter's press conference. Ukraine deserves a coalition that thinks in years, not in press conferences. And I believe you are capable of it — if you have the will.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist

Columnist's transparency note

Editorial positioning

This open letter is based on verified primary sources: the announcement from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense via UNN, the official statements of Dan Jarvis and Theo Francken, as well as articles from the Kyiv Independent, Militarnyi, and Ukrainian Pravda. I am pro-Ukraine and pro-West. The epistolary form is a deliberate editorial choice to address decision-makers directly. No invented testimony.

Limitations

The precise amounts announced at Ramstein may be revised as deliveries are made. The production and delivery timelines announced depend on industrial capacities that may evolve. This letter is written based on information available on June 18–19, 2026.

Sources

Primary sources

UNN — At Ramstein, over $1.7 billion in aid to Ukraine for air defense and ammunition — June 18–19, 2026

Kyiv Independent — UK to send Ukraine 150,000 drones, air defense systems — June 18, 2026

Ukrpravda — Belgium to transfer seven F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine — June 18, 2026

Secondary sources

Militarnyi — United Kingdom To Provide Ukraine with 150,000 Drones and LMM Missiles — June 18, 2026

EuroMaidan Press — Freya interceptor Ukraine Patriot — June 24, 2026

ISW — Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 15, 2026 — June 15–16, 2026