capabilities,

especially air defense and armor and artillery ammunition. we are proud to stand with them. we recently announced more u.s. security assistance for ukraine valued three hundred million dollars. our allies and partners continue to step up. the united states must also. over nearly two years this content group has generated more

$88 billion in security assistance for ukraine. that includes 15 u.s. allies who are committing more to ukraine than us as a share of their gdp. we continue to focus on two tracks. first we are working to provide near-term support for ukraine's troops work with ukraine's leads to plan this long-term defense and deterrence. this long-term support is rooted in the capability coalitions and they are now up and running. capability coalitions bring together countries to focus on ukraine's most critical immediate and long-term needs. our aim is to help ukraine build a content -- combat credible force for the long haul. the capability coalitions will let ukraine's friends coordinate

our support for years to come. they create a coherent, nimble, and sustained approach to ukraine's long-term security. this morning i convened the first meeting of the capability coalition leader group. that infused even more unity of effort and purpose across these eight coalitions. more than one dozen allies leading to discuss our progress and coordinate the way ahead for crosscutting issues. the united states is grateful to denmark, estonia, france, germany, iceland, italy, latvia, lithuania, luxembourg, the netherlands, norway, poland, and the united kingdom. they have all stepped upthe capo

commit resources and personnel to this critical task. their leadership is a testament to the unity andunited states se becausit's the right thing to do. and because america cares when freedom is at risk. , we also stand by ukraine because it's crucial to our own security. the united states would face grave new arrows in a world where aggression and autocracy are on the march and where tyrants are emboldened and dictators think they can wipe out democracy off the map. so when we invest in ukraine's security, we invest in our own security. we strengthen this contact group 's shared division -- shared vision of rules and rights and responsibilities.

today, ukraine's survival is in danger. and america security is at risk. they do not have a day to waste and we do not have a day to spare either. so i leave here today fully determined to keep u.s. security assistance and ammunitions flowing. that's a matter of survival and sovereignty for ukraine and a matter of honor and security for america. make no mistake. putin is watching. the world is watching. ching. with that, general brown, the floor is yours. gen. brown: two days after the start of world war ii, franklin roosevelt said in a fireside chat the peace of all countries is in danger. russia shattered peace on the

european continent. its continued efforts to invade and annex ukraine. for two years the defense group has reaffirmed the broken piece and ukraine effects peace for us all. this coalition of work to achieve just and lasting peace on the continent. today european defense contact group met to discuss our commitments to support ukraine. commitments turned into action by some 50 couri here in attendance. i want to echo many of the comments made today and thank secretary austen for his continued leadership and strategic vision for the international coalition. i also want to thank the defense minister who was with us today and forgetting ukraine and its forces with grid and resistance. i want to thank the nations who joinfogroup to provide the invae

support. eight decades ago, president roosevelt highlighted how security is interconnected. when conflict disrupted peace in europe in 1939 and threaten global securityworld into confly global security has been challenged once again. broken piece and ukraine represents a risk for us all. just over two years ago putin amassed 180,000 troops on the borders of a free, independent and sovereign ukraine. the citizenry mobilized, ukraine's military expanded and for two years of hard and intense fighting the people of ukraine of sacrifice their lives and their homes to beat back a larger and supposedly more capable military. despite the enormity of the challenge, ukraine halted initial russian advances from taking kyiv and launched

successful offensive operations to retake territories and eastern parts of the country. ukrainian forces were able to retake more than half the territory that russia temporarily occupied in the early stages of conflict. russia has made some incremental gains, it has been at great cost of personnel and equipment. ukraine continues retrenching their defenses to fortify their lines and maximize effects of their beginning, ukraine has asked for the capability and training to stand and fight. for two years ukrainian forces have use this coalition support to repel russian attacks using innovative strategies and tactics. imposed severe tolls on russian forces and capabilities. that because on about a field combined with collective pressure on the russian economy

has forced russia to turn to the likes of iran and north korea. for two years we have shown the outcomes we can achieve when we act together and provide support to ukraine. russia's plan is to wait out western will to support ukraine. this coalition must not let that strategy work. collectively allies and partners contributed $80 billion. the support doesn't help ukraine. it helps to bolster the offense -- defense of the united states and the world. it enables our own security. the collective support will ensure ukraine is successful today and into the future. as president biden and secretary austen have said, the u.s. will stand with ukraine. peace and security are mo than just words. it's more than just belief.

peace and security require constant work and action. ukraine defense contact will continuets work for ukraine and for all. thank you and i look forward to your questions. >> our first question will come from the washington post. >> secretary austen, it's nice to see you. first for you, how great is the risk of a major russian breakthrough given the shortages ukraine is now facing and does that danger continue to grow as the u.s. supplemental is delayed further and do you think given the stakes you laid out in the fight in ukraine, do you think the united responsibility to dip further into its own stockpile if the supplemental does not pass. for states says they are discussing alternatives to a major ground operation in israel in raaf up. what alternative options exist

for achieving israel's security goals in southern gaza including destroying the remaining hamas battalions without further threatening aid delivery and endangering civilians sheltering their? could it achieve those goals through some combination of targeted raids and precision strikes? sec. austin: regarding a potential russian breakthrough. what we've seen on the battlefield is a series of incremental by the russians. the point of the chairman made a couple minutes ago, theseficantt in terms of personnel and equipment. nonetheless we have seen some incremental gains. d my counterparts in the chief of defense in ukraine, they feel confident in their ability to

continue to defend their sovereign territory and hold the line. of course they need munitions, they need support in order to be able to continue to do that. and of course that's where the supplemental comes in and we certainly would hope that we would see the supplemental get past soon. i continue of congress for ukraine and so i'm optimistic we will see some action moving forward but again this is a thing you cannot absolutely ■dpredict. we have to work with congress to make sure ukraine receives the support it needs. the thing i would like to highlight is the united states is not doing this alone. as you witnessed today some 50 countries gathered for the 20th

ti to address security assistance for ukraine. and in that meeting i can tell you you hear uny and resolve and an effort to find a way to continue to provide that support. we are seeing allies and pathe support from the united states of america is very important. gen. brown: having not seen the detailed plans that is really -- israel might have for rafah it is hard to lay out the alternative. one of the things we've engaged with israelis, we have had experience in operating in urban environments in the middle east. we continue to talk about the

lessons learned we have on how to execute. at the se time we talk about how do we protect civilians. i can say from personal experience leading tparts of the arab campaign to defeat isis are focused on how you protect civilians and minimizing collateral damage is a continuing conversation and that will be an aspect that we will have and we continue to have with the israelis as we ponder future operations. >> questioned both gentlemen. are there plans to transfer the ukraine defense content group into a nato structure? it would make things may be easier or is this the under -- or is this the other way around? sec. austin: thank you, good to see you again.

the uec g has been a very effective forum. each of these meetings are well attended and each of these meetings again, our partners aad support for ukraine. over time it will shift from a focus on the current fight solely to more of a focus on building a longer-term capability for ukraine and you are already starting to see with what we are doing. we have countries that have volunteered to lead these coalitions that are focused on the critical fighting capabilities ukraine will need to defend the sovereign territory and deter aggression in the future. we will see that transition continue as we go forward.

for right now we are focused on making sure we can get ukraine the security assistance it needs to be successful today and in the near and midterms. >> secretary austin, in december you warned if israel did not protect civilians in gaza it risk a tactical win but strategic defeat. time we've seen tens of thousands of civilians in gaza killed or wounded and now they face potential famine. as the u.s. considered withholding offensive weapons that israel has asked for and if not why do you believe the u.s. 's right to build peers and air drops but not leverage everything you can including conditions on weapons to open land routes and protect civilians? brown, in light of the

announcement it will end its military relationship with the united states, our u.s. forces leaving? if so, when and how and how would that impact u.s. terrorism operations? >> thank youancy. taking us back to where this started on october 7, hamas launched a brutal attack against israel and killed 1200 israelis and took 200 israelis hostage. 100 of those hostages are still held by hamas. and s acknowledge from the very beginning that israel has a fundamental right to be able to defend itself. and so we are going to continue to support them as they try to do that and ensure that they have what they need to defend their people. ensuring that people remain

safe in gaza. the two things are not mutually exclusive. you can conduct operations to defend your sovereign territory and protect your people, but by the same token protect civilians in the battle space and provide humanitarian assistance to those in need in the space as well. we continue to encourage the israel he leadership to do just that, to make sure they are doing everything possible to get increasing amounts of humanitarian assistance into gaza. we are doing everything we can do to help as well. you've seen us to air drops and certainly if we can increase the volume of humanitarian assistance by providing a maritime option that makes a lot of sense, we can maybe increase the amount of meals provided on a daily basis by some 2 million

meals. that is substantial. israel has a right to defend itself, but there also a° need o protect the civilians in the battle space. the two things are not mutually exclusive. gen. brown: as you saw over the weekend there was about the relationship. ■=even since then there's been some mixed signals we receive and so if a decision is made we make plans as you might imagine we always make plans to different contingencies so we will continue to make plans whether we stay or depart. what is the impact on counterterrorism, that has impacted impacting the support.

we will continue to look at nations within west africa others are working counterterrorism. with a couple chiefs of defense. in west africa as well as talking more realistically. we all work to>> our final >> questions over the past 24 hours, the israeli army has committed a series of airstrikes , leaving thousands dead and injured. and we know about them, president biden urgent benjamin

netanyahu not to launch an attack proper. my question is what is the position in this ground right now. we have been clear about the need to prioritize the protection and that a military operations should proceed without a clear and implementable plan. to evacuate the civilians once you evacuate. communicated this a number of times on a presidents level on down,' communicated with my counterpart a number of times.

with any military plan any type of operational planning to account for and protect those civilians in the battle space. we've yet to see such a plan. we have an opportunity to engage in the leadership here on that soon. >> thank you both very much. ladies and gentlemen this concludes our press briefing. anchor very much for joining us today. [captioning performed by the nsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] ■