ANALYSIS: The Ramstein Format: From Military-Political Cooperation to New Global Security Architecture

The first meeting in this format took place on April 26, 2022, at the Ramstein Air Force Base.

“Representatives of 43 countries, including 13 non-NATO countries, attended the Summit on Ukraine’s Long-Term Security. Most of them were represented by defense ministers or senior defense policy officials and included NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Among the non-NATO countries, key Pacific partners of the US were invited: Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand; representatives of the Middle East – Israel, Qatar, and Jordan; the quartet from Africa – Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, and Tunisia, as well as Finland and Sweden (at that time these countries were not yet full members of NATO); and, of course, Ukraine itself.” 

As of September 2024, Ukraine has received $106 billion in aid under the Ramstein format (of which about $56 billion is US aid). This was officially announced at the 24th meeting of the countries participating in the format.

Ramstein’s results:

• Ramstein has become a phenomenon in world politics. Assistance from partners and allies is an important component of Ukraine’s defense capability and resilience in repelling Russian aggression. The very term “Ramstein” has become a household name. Its analogs can be found worldwide: “Ramstein 2.0,” “Cultural Ramstein,” “Financial Ramstein,” “Economic Ramstein,” etc. These phrases are associated with planning and the desire to modernize a particular area.
• The Ramstein Group has created opportunities for strategic rearmament of the Ukraine Armed Forces and convergence with NATO standards. Within the framework of this format, specific types of weapons were supplied and purchased with financial assistance (over $100 billion) from Ramstein member states.

Ukraine was able to significantly improve its defense capabilities, ensuring successful counterattacks and strategic defense actions.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has established a Coalition Support Office to manage military assistance in a systematic way.

Eight specialized coalitions have already been established, such as the Aviation Capabilities Coalition, the Air and Missile Defense Coalition, and others.

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Among the specific types of weapons that Ukraine received for the first time are air defense systems, F-16 fighters, ammunition for missile systems and artillery, armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons, and much more. 

Thus, during the entire period of Ramstein’s intensive work, not only the strategic rearmament of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also the technological improvement of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex has taken place.

• The threat of a direct nuclear confrontation between Russia and NATO was most likely the main reason for the creation of three parallel geopolitical tracks within the Ramstein format.

The first track is in-depth cooperation between Ukraine and the United States. In this context, the Ukrainian state plays an important role in the American national security strategy.

The second track is Ukraine and NATO. Here, Ukraine is strengthening as one of the centers of power on the eastern flank of the Alliance.

The third track is actually the Ramstein format itself, which is a global non-aligned coalition of all major international actors that support Ukraine.

Thus, there are three horizontal lines (tracks) of international counteraction to Russia: Ukraine-USA (bilateral format), Ukraine-NATO (multilateral format with the participation of the United States), Ukraine-Ramstein format (the United States, NATO and some Pacific Rim countries, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand).

• Ramstein is the basis for the formation of a new configuration of international security, where Ukraine will play a leading role. This format, as noted above, is not a coalition in the classical sense of the term, but it is already possible to model possible scenarios for transforming the experience of comprehensive cooperation within the Ramstein framework into strategic alliances beneficial to Ukraine, considering the current situation in world politics.

Ramstein’s Possible Futures:

• A) Preservation of the current Ramstein format with the participation of the United States. American military, political, financial, and diplomatic involvement is crucial to the effectiveness of the Ramstein process. As noted above, more than half of all financial costs incurred over the more than two and a half years of the format’s operation have been provided by the United States. However, in such a situation, it is difficult to predict the attitude of the new US presidential administration to the Ramstein format.
• B) Preservation of the Ramstein format without the active participation of the United States. In this case, the United Kingdom, other EU-NATO countries (Germany, France, etc.), as well as Japan and South Korea, will assume full responsibility for maintaining the platform as an important coordinating structure for international assistance to Ukraine. In such a situation, all of the above countries should be prepared to become more seriously involved in supporting Ukraine financially and militarily.
• C) Merging the Ramstein format with NATO structures. Ukraine’s top military and political leadership regularly declares and sometimes demands clarity and precision from our Western partners about Ukraine’s membership in NATO. However, some NATO member states, such as Hungary and Turkey, actively oppose this. There is also no clarity on this issue among the American foreign policy establishment.
• D) Creation of a new format (alliance) where Ukraine would play a leading role. Taking into account the experience that Ukraine already has in cooperation with its allies in the Ramstein format, the EU, NATO, and using the regulatory framework of dozens of security agreements that Ukraine has signed recently, it is possible to construct a new, regional, geostrategic alliance where Ukraine would be the core of European (Euro-Atlantic) security. For example, to strengthen military-political integration within the framework of the Three Seas Initiative (Baltic-Black Sea Initiative) or the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).

Lord Ashcroft pointed out in his article published in Kyiv Post on Dec. 18, 2024,  that JEF is a natural bridge for Ukraine to eventually join NATO.  He also points out that most of JEF’s members share a border with Russia and that these countries military commitments have been “Bold and Decisive.”  The United Kingdom is currently the leader of JEF and a strong supporter of Ukraine.  Ukraine successfully participated in Joint Protector 24 which took place in Latvia.

In conclusion, a hybrid model utilizing Ramstein and allowing Ukraine to become a member of JEF could provide a realistic security arrangement based on existing institutional models already developed.  The foundation and framework are already in place. 

Such a model will potentially be appealing to the incoming Trump administration because it reduces resource demands on the budget and military, increases Eurocentric defense, and maintains a strong partnership with the US.