"The United States will always be a reliable partner." Those were the words of Lloyd Austin on his final trip as U.S. Secretary of Defense, to the Ramstein air base in Germany for a meeting of Ukraine's allies.

Austin addressed the media after the meeting of global military leaders supporting Ukraine. He said he was incredibly proud of the work achieved by the workgroup that had delivered more than $122 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelenskyy was in attendance, and he had talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. A Ukrainian press release said the two spoke about adding to Ukraine's air defense capabilities to allow the country to negotiate "just and lasting peace." 

Speaking earlier about the return of Donald Trump as U.S. president, Zelenskyy said this was the start of "a new era" – adding: "Now it's on all of us, on how we work together, how ready we are to own our future."

Current U.S. President Joe Biden's administration announced its final aid package to Ukraine on Thursday. The weapons cache included air defense missiles and a kit for the F16 fighter jet. The latest package forms part of the $65 billion worth of support Washington has sent to Kyiv. 

Ukraine's allies are concerned that this support will dry up once Biden – whose administration also announced a new raft of sanctions targeting the Russian economy – leaves office. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he hoped Washington would retain control of the joint effort to arm Kyiv – but added that if not, Ukraine's allies will have to find other ways to respond. 

Trump is expected to reduce the United States' commitment to Ukraine severely. Pistorius told the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG), "And if those in the United States now decide not to maintain this format any longer, then we will have to make our own decisions."

He added that he was "astonished" at Trump's refusal to rule out military action in his pursuit of purchasing Greenland from Denmark, if hopeful that actions will not follow words. 

"I don't know exactly what he's aiming for, but allies and alliances are set up to stay that way," he said. "Otherwise, they'd just be loose alliances and not allies."