Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin used their final meeting Thursday to press the incoming Trump administration not to give up on Kyiv's fight, with Austin warning that to cease military support now "will only invite more aggression,

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has departed for Germany to attend the 25th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at the Ramstein Air Base, which is his last one before the end of the Biden administration.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told The Associated Press that the U.S. needs to keep troops deployed in Syria to prevent the Islamic State group from reconstituting as a major threat.

Since the fall of President Bashar Assad regime, tensions across the Middle East have continued to remain high.

U.S forces are still needed in Syria to prevent ISIS from reconstituting as a major threat following Assad's ouster, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.