Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with new Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov on Monday for the first time since the latter assumed his position earlier this month.
"Secretary Austin provided an update on U.S. security assistance efforts and exchanged views with Minister Umerov on priorities to support Ukraine’s immediate battlefield needs and capability requirements over the long term," the Pentagon said in a readout of the call.
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Umerov took over for former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who had been in the position since November 2021.
The call took place ahead of next week's Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Austin has led these monthly meetings, both in-person at Ramstein and sometimes virtually, in which defense leaders from roughly 50 countries come together to discuss Ukraine's most urgent needs, for more than a year.
A likely topic of discussion will be whether the U.S. will send Ukraine long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, which the Biden administration has repeatedly declined to do.
The administration is “likely” to send them, ABC News reported, citing anonymous officials. Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said he had “nothing to announce” on Monday when asked about the possibility.
On Sunday, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said, "What I guess I’d say on that at this point is I’m not taking anything off the table. We don’t have a decision to announce on new capabilities, but our position all along has been we will get Ukraine the capabilities that will enable it to succeed on the battlefield."
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Ukraine's limited success during its counterattack could push the administration to provide them with ATACMs, which could give Ukraine the ability to hit targets within Russian territory. U.S. officials have warned that enabling strikes within Russia's borders could lead to an unintentional escalation in the war.
The Biden administration has, on multiple occasions, changed its mind and provided weapons to Ukraine that it had previously said it wouldn't, including for tanks and advanced fighter jets.