Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in March 2024. (Alexander Kubitza/Department of Defense)

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is traveling to Ramstein Air Base in Germany to meet Friday with allies and discuss further military support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, according to the Pentagon.

Austin and Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will participate in the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which consists of nearly 50 countries that have banded together to provide military assistance to the Ukrainian forces battling Russia’s invasion since February 2022.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his appeal to Western allies on Tuesday looking for longer-range munitions and asking nations to ease restrictions on what Ukraine can target on Russian soil with the weapons provided.

“Granting Ukraine these approvals and providing us with this weaponry would be the biggest step toward a real, just end to this war,” Zelenskyy said on X.

The request comes after two Russian ballistic missiles blasted a military training facility and nearby hospital Tuesday in the central-eastern Ukrainian city of Poltava, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 200 others, The Associated Press reported.

The U.S. made a policy change in May that allows Ukrainian commanders to fire American weapons into Russia for the limited purpose of defending the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

“I’ve made it clear … what we support and don’t support,” President Joe Biden said about lifting weapons restrictions.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, told reporters that he did not have any policy changes to announce.

Meetings of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group are often followed by new announcements of more military aid. The U.S. has provided more than $55.5 billion to Ukraine since the invasion, according to the State Department.