Hegseth to skip Ukraine meeting at NATO headquarters
Hegseth to skip Ukraine meeting at NATO headquarters

Hegseth to skip Ukraine meeting at NATO headquarters

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Diverging Reports Breakdown

US defense secretary to skip Ramstein summit for the first time, media reports

U.S. Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth will not take part in the Ramstein-format meeting of Ukraine’s partners next week, Defense News magazine reported on April 2. This would make the April 11 summit in Brussels, co-chaired by the U.K. and Germany, the first instance when the Pentagon’s chief will be absent since the format’s founding in 2022. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has begun scaling down U.s. presence in various international pro-Ukraine initiatives.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth will not take part in the Ramstein-format meeting of Ukraine’s partners next week, Defense News magazine reported on April 2, citing undisclosed official sources.

This would make the April 11 summit in Brussels, co-chaired by the U.K. and Germany, the first instance when the Pentagon’s chief will be absent since the format’s founding in 2022.

Hegseth’s predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, launched the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) after the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale war to coordinate assistance among some 50 of Kyiv’s allies.

A U.S. official source told Defense News that Hegseth is not expected to join even virtually and that the Pentagon is unlikely to send any senior representatives to the summit.

Since taking office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has begun scaling down U.S. presence in various international pro-Ukraine initiatives as he seeks to broker a ceasefire and a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.

Hegseth attended the previous Ramstein summit on Feb. 12 but not as its chairman, a position held by Austin until then. His British counterpart, John Healey, presided over the summit instead.

At the previous Ramstein summit, Hegseth delivered a jarring speech to Ukraine’s partners, calling the country’s return to pre-2014 borders and accession to NATO “unrealistic” in a major turn from the Biden administration’s rhetoric.

The comments signified the foreign policy pivot brought about by the Trump administration, which has yet to approve a single additional package of military aid to Ukraine.

Thus far, Trump has only allowed the continued flow of assistance approved by his predecessor, briefly pausing it last month to pressure Ukraine to the negotiating table.

The new U.S. leadership has also repeatedly urged Europe to boost its defense spending and increase the share of its assistance to Ukraine.

Source: Kyivindependent.com | View original article

UK, Germany host Ukraine support talks as US takes back seat – DW – 04

Europe has taken the reins of military support for Kyiv, amid uncertainty surrounding Washington’s future role. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a virtual appearance at talks held to coordinate military assistance to Ukraine. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group was founded in 2022 after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. With the Trump administration now focused on getting Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, Friday’s meeting was instead chaired by the UK and Germany. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius: “The passion and reliability with which the United States has supported Ukraine over the past three years has clearly changed” US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia for fresh talks on ending the war.

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Europe has taken the reins of military support for Kyiv, amid uncertainty surrounding Washington’s future role.

Ukraine’s European allies breathed a sigh of relief on Friday when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a virtual appearance at talks held to coordinate military assistance to Ukraine.

Until then, it wasn’t clear whether the Pentagon chief would take part at all.

“He is traveling, but was determined to join us,” UK Defense Secretary John Healey said of his US counterpart, as he called the meeting of some 50 countries to order at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group was founded by Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, in 2022 after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, drawing in countries far beyond the NATO military alliance to monthly meetings where they were regularly challenged to increase their military contributions to Kyiv.

With the Trump administration now focused on getting Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, Friday’s meeting was instead chaired by the UK and Germany.

Germany says US ‘reliability’ has ‘clearly changed’

Having other countries lead the group is something many Europeans had hoped would be a temporary arrangement. Former Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren told DW that this setup with the US taking a back seat was “presented, at least to the outside world, as a one-off thing.”

“Now it seems as more of a withdrawal on the US side from this coordinating institution,” Ollongren said, adding: “I don’t know how to read that.”

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As he arrived at NATO on Friday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was candid about the uncertainty surrounding Washington’s future role.

“It would be unfair to ignore the fact that the US administration has changed course,” he told reporters. “The passion and reliability with which the United States has supported Ukraine over the past three years, particularly under the leadership of Lloyd Austin, has clearly changed.”

New pledges from European allies

Sources close to the talks told DW that Hegseth’s remarks to the group were “matter-of-fact,” repeating messages NATO nations have already heard from the Trump administration and featuring no new demands.

But they also said there were no new pledges of US support for Ukraine — in keeping with the trend since Trump took office.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, however, seemed undeterred.

“The US is beside us and focused on the peace, and we’re working together. Our job is to make it happen,” he told reporters.

Germany was among a number of countries which did announce billions of euros in new military aid for Ukraine, including significant pledges of additional air defense, drones, tanks and ammunition.

But what was happening outside Brussels may prove much more pivotal for Ukraine’s future. As the support group wrapped up at NATO headquarters, US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia for fresh talks on ending the war.

Rosie Birchard also contributed to this article.

Edited by: Martin Kuebler

Source: Dw.com | View original article

US looks to prioritise Panama in snub to Europe and Ukraine

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will miss the upcoming Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, due to take place next week. His appearance at the last UDCG meeting on 12 February fired the first warning shots of a new World Order being written. The US looks set to detach itself from Nato, and Europe, in favour of a budding friendship with Russia and a focus to counter China in the Indo-Pacific. In recent weeks the US administration has made claims of its intention to seize the Panama Canal, as it seeks to re-establish its influence in Central and South America. The timing of CENTSEC will also see the US military fighters and other aircraft, including a P-8 Poseidon submarine hunter, join the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers USS Chosin and USS Normandy in a visit to Panama.

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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaking at a White House briefing in January 2025. Credit: oshua Sukoff / Shutterstock

In yet further indication of the detachment of Washington from its old allies in Europe, it looks likely that US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will miss the upcoming Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, due to take place next week.

The past 48 hours have given a series of clues as to this outcome, with a 2 April release from Nato’s press office stating that the UK and Germany would convene the UDCG at Nato’s headquarters in Brussels on 11 April.

Prior to the installation of the Trump administration in the White House, the UDCG had been chaired by former US Defense Secretary Lloyd J Austin.

Hegseth’s appearance at the last UDCG meeting on 12 February fired the first warning shots of a new World Order being written, one in which the US looks set to detach itself from Nato, and Europe, in favour of a budding friendship with Russia and a focus to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.

Immediately following the Nato release and its lack of a reference to any US participation, Army Technology approached the US Department of Defense (DoD) for confirmation as to whether a US delegation would be present at the Nato HQ meeting. The DoD did not respond.

Subsequent reporting by Defense News and CNN stated Hegseth was set to miss the key Ukraine meeting.

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Then, on 4 April, the US DoD published a released stating that Secretary Hegseth would be departing the US “early next week” to participate in the 2025 Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC). The CENTSEC event is taking place in Panama from 8-10 April.

“The Secretary will meet with partner-nation senior civilian, military, and security leadership in a series of bilateral meetings that will drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations toward our shared vision for a peaceful and secure Western Hemisphere,” the DoD spokesperson stated.

The DoD added that Hegseth would also travel to Eglin AFB to visit service members and command leadership at 7th Special Forces Group.

In what is either a sign of bilateral cooperation or a military power play by Washington, the timing of CENTSEC will also see the US military fighters and other aircraft, including a P-8 Poseidon submarine hunter, join the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers USS Chosin and USS Normandy in a visit to Panama.

US has “utmost respect” for Panama’s sovereignty

A telling communiqué by the US embassy in Panama on 4 April stated that, as part of the CENTSEC event, “bilateral cooperation activities” had been authorised by the Panamanian government and would be carried out “with the utmost respect for the Panamanian people and Panama’s sovereignty”.

In recent weeks the US administration has made claims of its intention to seize the Panama Canal, as it seeks to re-establish its influence in Central and South America.

Fellow GlobalData news outlet Ship Technology reported at the end of March that the canal was becoming a proxy for the escalating trade war between China and the US.

Beijing’s imposition of counter-tariffs on 4 April in response to the Trump administration’s placing tariffs on China and dozens of other countries further indicates the need for Washington to secure strategic locations such as the Panama Canal.

In the event of any standoff to military escalation with Beijing, Washington would seek to use the Panama Canal to move additional naval forces stationed on the east coast over the west.

Source: Army-technology.com | View original article

In a first, US defense chief to skip Nato meeting on Ukraine amid escalation

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth will not attend Wednesday’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels. It is the first time since the US created the group three years ago that the Pentagon chief will not be in attendance. The U.S. has stepped away from a leadership role, providing no new military aid and now abandoning the gathering altogether. A senior Ukrainian delegation led by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is in Washington for talks about defense, sanctions and postwar recovery. The Ukrainians met with US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, discussing recent talks with the Russians and conditions on the battlefield, Yermak posted on social media.

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For the first time since the US created an international group to coordinate military aid to Ukraine three years ago, America’s Pentagon chief will not be in attendance when more than 50 other defense leaders meet Wednesday.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who returned from a national security conference in Singapore on Sunday, will not arrive in Brussels until Wednesday evening, after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group’s meeting is over.

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A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss scheduling details, confirmed that Hegseth also will not participate by video conference.

It is the latest in a series of steps that the U.S. has taken to distance itself from the Ukraine war effort. And it comes on the heels of French President Emmanuel Macron’s warning at the security conference last weekend that the U.S. and others risk a dangerous double standard if their concentration on a potential conflict with China is done at the cost of abandoning Ukraine.

France and other NATO nations are concerned that the US is considering withdrawing troops from Europe to shift them to the Indo-Pacific. Macron said abandoning Ukraine would eventually erode U.S. credibility in deterring any potential conflict with China over Taiwan.

Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the group after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since then, more than 50 member nations have collectively provided Ukraine with some $126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including over $66.5 billion from the U.S.

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Under Austin’s leadership, the U.S. served as chair of the group, and he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff attended monthly meetings, which were both in person and by video.

Hegseth has upended that position by stepping away from a leadership role, providing no new military aid and now abandoning the gathering altogether.

During his first meeting with the group and a subsequent NATO defense ministers gathering in Brussels in February, Hegseth warned that Ukraine should abandon its NATO bid and its push to reclaim all Russian-occupied territory. And he signaled that President Donald Trump is determined to get Europe to assume most of the financial and military responsibilities for Ukraine’s defense.

Since Trump took office, there have been no new announcements of U.S. military or weapons aid to Ukraine.

Hegseth also turned leadership of the group over to Germany and the United Kingdom. While he will not attend Wednesday’s session, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander, will be there.

In Washington, meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian delegation led by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is in town for talks about defense, sanctions and postwar recovery, said Andrii Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office.

The Ukrainians met with U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, discussing recent talks with the Russians and conditions on the battlefield, Yermak posted on social media. Svyrydenko and Yermak also are expected to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials Wednesday.

Published By: Shipra Parashar Published On: Jun 4, 2025

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Source: Indiatoday.in | View original article

In first, Hegseth to skip multinational meeting on Ukraine support

Pete Hegseth will not attend a gathering of 50 countries to coordinate military support for Ukraine. It will be the first time the coalition will gather without America’s secretary of defense participating. The Pentagon is unlikely to send any senior representatives, which typically join the secretary on such trips. The United States is still assessing how its officials will participate in the various forums that support Ukraine, a U.S. official said. The group has helped raise and coordinate more than $126 billion in security aid to Ukraine, around half of which has come from the U.K. and Germany. It is chaired by Germany and Britain and will meet on April 11 in Brussels, the Netherlands and Belgium, the United States and other countries will also attend. The last time the group met in person was in 2024, when Lloyd Austin was recovering from complications following cancer treatment.

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Pete Hegseth will not attend a gathering of 50 countries to coordinate military support for Ukraine, multiple European officials and a U.S. official said — the first time the coalition will gather without America’s secretary of defense participating.

The group will meet April 11 in Brussels and will be chaired by Germany and Britain. Hegseth attended the last meeting in February, though he became the first U.S. defense secretary in the coalition’s 26 meetings not to lead it.

Hegseth won’t join in person and isn’t expected to join virtually either, according to a U.S. official, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss the planning. In fact, the Pentagon is unlikely to send any senior representatives, which typically join the secretary on such trips.

The United States is still assessing how its officials will participate in the various forums that support Ukraine, including those that help manage security assistance and training, the U.S. official said.

For Europeans, the secretary’s absence is the latest sign of the Trump administration’s lower-priority approach to arming Ukraine — a point Hegseth made clear at the last meeting in February.

In a speech from Brussels, Hegseth scolded European officials, urging them to take more control of their own defense rather than relying on America’s 75-year role helping defend the continent. He also ruled out the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine before the administration had itself made a decision on the topic — something the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., called a “rookie mistake.”

“President [Donald] Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker,” Hegseth said, referring to a quote from former president Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, founded the Ukraine Defense Contact Group shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Since then, the group has helped raise and coordinate more than $126 billion in security aid to Ukraine, around half of which has come from America.

In the three years since, the group became synonymous both with Ramstein Air Base, where it was founded, and U.S. leadership. The only time Austin did not attend one of the group’s in-person meetings was early 2024, when he was recovering from complications following cancer treatment. Instead, he called into the summit and had Celeste Wallander, a top Pentagon policy official, convene the group.

Sensing the U.S. may step back from its role, European officials were already planning for alternate formats when the group last gathered during the Biden administration, Wallander said in an interview. One of the arrangements discussed was for Germany and the United Kingdom to take the lead, representing Europe’s economic powerhouse and one of its most capable militaries.

While the Ukraine group could continue meeting without U.S. leadership, Wallander said, there would be real costs. American defense officials, along with military counterparts from U.S. European Command, have typically led briefings on the state of the war and how it relates to Ukraine’s battlefield needs.

Without them, the group would lack key U.S. intelligence, something European officials are already preparing for. In late February, after a disastrous visit to the Oval office by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the U.S. stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine and paused weapons deliveries for a week.

The Pentagon has $3.85 billion left in authority to send Ukraine military equipment, but no money left to replace it. Leaders in Congress have said they have no plans to pass more.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Source: Defensenews.com | View original article

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