Zelenskyy and Austin use their final meeting to press Trump to keep supporting Ukraine

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and U.S. Defense Secretary Austin urge continued support for Ukraine amid Trump administration uncertainty.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin used their final meeting on Thursday (January 10, 2025) to press the incoming Trump administration not to give up on Kyiv’s fight, with Austin warning that to cease military support now “will only invite more aggression, chaos and war.”

“We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defense coalitions we’ve created,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “No matter what’s going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased off the map.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s pronouncements about pushing for a quick end to the war, his kinship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and uncertainty over whether he will support further military aid to Ukraine have triggered concern among allies.

The Biden administration has worked to provide Ukraine with as much military support as it can, including approving a new $500 million package of weapons and relaxing restrictions on missile strikes into Russia, with the aim of putting Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations to end the war.

Mr. Austin doubled down on Mr. Zelenskyy's appeal, saying “no responsible leader will let Putin have his way.”

And while Mr. Austin acknowledged he has no idea what Mr. Trump will do, he said the international leaders gathered Thursday at Ramstein Air Base talked about the need to continue the mission.

The leaders were attending a gathering of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a consortium of about 50 partner nations that Austin brought together months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 to coordinate weapons support.