The US Secretary of Defense will not attend the meeting of the contact group for coordinating military aid to Ukraine within NATO, known as the 'Ramstein' format, for the first time in three years since its creation.
A month ago, Pete Hegseth joined 'Ramstein' but in a virtual format. The Pentagon explained his absence from the contact group meeting due to scheduling issues. 'Hegseth's travel schedule precluded participation in tomorrow's meeting,' said Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson.
As reported by Politico citing its own sources, Hegseth will be in Brussels for a NATO defense ministers meeting tomorrow, but today his place in the contact group on Ukraine defense will be taken by the US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker.
This information was also confirmed by Associated Press sources, stating that Pete Hegseth, who returned from a national security conference in Singapore on Sunday, will arrive in Brussels only on Wednesday evening, after the conclusion of the Contact Group meeting on Ukraine defense. 'This is the latest in a series of steps the US has taken to distance itself from the war in Ukraine,' an American official told the agency.
Hegseth's predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the contact group after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, more than 50 member countries have collectively provided Ukraine with about $126 billion in military aid, including more than $66.5 billion from the USA.
Under Austin's leadership, the USA served as the group's chair, and he and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff attended monthly meetings both in person and via video link. In February, Hegseth stated that the USA would no longer play a leading role in the monthly meetings, after which the UK and Germany took over the group's leadership.