U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III has said during the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany on Friday, which was also attended by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that the sides have not discussed yet a victory plan that the Ukrainian president intends to present to U.S. President Joseph Biden. However, Austin expressed confidence that this was could end very quickly if Vladimir Putin decided to withdraw his forces from Ukraine.

"I did get a chance to spend some time with President Zelenskyy, and you recall that President Zelenskyy outlined his goals and objectives during his opening comments. […] In terms of the plan of victory, we did not discuss that," he said at a press conference following the Ramstein-format meeting.

The Pentagon chief expressed confidence that President Zelenskyy would present his victory plan to President Biden and other leaders at the first opportunity.

Austin said that "in terms of whether that victory is achievable, again I think this war could end very quickly if Mr. Putin decided to pull his forces out of the places that he's occupied in Ukraine."

"And this could be started by Putin, [he could] end it very quickly if he just made a simple and right decision to undo what he's done. In terms of absolute victory, it really depends on how you define it. Ukraine is focused on defending its sovereign territory," he said.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense also promised that his country along with partners "are going to continue to do whatever we can to help them do that."

"You know what Russia's goals and objectives are […] we know from the very beginning that he wanted to annex Ukraine, because he doesn't believe that Ukraine is a bona fide country. I think that eventually this conflict will be decided at a negotiation table, but when that point comes, it's hard to predict. We are going to continue to work to put Ukraine in the best possible position that it can be in when and if that day comes," he said.