MADRID, 23 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin, has reported that, after the second meeting of the military contact group for Ukraine, a total of 20 countries will send security assistance to the European countries.

Austin chaired this Monday the second virtual meeting of this group, made up of more than 40 countries and whose objective is to guarantee the coordination of the long-term supply of weapons to Ukraine in the framework of the Russian invasion.

Thus, the Secretary of Defense has reported that Denmark has committed to sending the ‘Harpoon’ anti-ship missile system and a batch of missiles, while the Czech Republic has agreed to “donate attack helicopters, tanks and rocket systems” , according to CNN.

Thus, together with these two, another 18 member countries of the contact group have announced a new delivery of weapons to Ukraine, including artillery ammunition, defense systems, combat tanks and other armored vehicles.

In addition, as Austin explained at a press conference, another group of countries has agreed to train the Ukrainian forces and “nurture” their military systems.

For his part, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, has detailed that the meeting was attended by representatives of a total of 47 countries, most of them from NATO, but also from nations such as Japan, South Korea or Israel.

The forum is seen as an attempt by Washington to build a solid common front against the military invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The group will hold a new meeting, this time face-to-face, in Brussels in mid-June.

“I will convene the Contact Group for our third meeting next month and this time I will meet in person, on June 15, on the sidelines of the NATO defense ministerial meeting in Brussels,” announced Austin, who wanted to unmark the meeting on the agenda of the Atlantic Alliance.

“Of course, it will not be a NATO event, but we want to keep up with these meetings and I wanted to take advantage of my trip to Europe to make sure that we are building on our momentum.”