Defense Minister Rustem Umerov emphasizes the importance for Ukraine of continuing the work of the Ramstein format and hopes to maintain support under the administration of Donald Trump.

“I have just finished a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The Ramstein format is very important to us. It is held monthly in an online and offline formats. We want it to continue … We discussed it with him. We asked them to discuss this with the new Minister of Defense. I will also send a letter that it is important for us,” he said at the annual general meeting of the European Business Association (EBA) in Kyiv on Tuesday, an Interfax-Ukraine agency correspondent reported.

According to Umerov, the conversations that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump went well. The minister stressed the importance of the principle of Peace through strength, which must remain.

“To be strong, we need to continue our support. We see what we are going to prepare now. We also briefed President Trump on our Victory Plan. Therefore, I hope that there will be continued support,” Umerov said.

Separately, he noted that each European partner is also discussing what has been done this year and plans for next year: “By the end of the year, we will summarize what was done in 2024, and we are already making priorities for 2025.”