For the first time in three years, the Secretary of Defense of the United States will not take part in the meeting of the international coordination group for the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, better known as “Ramstein”. About this informs Associated Press.
The head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, who returned from the national security conference in Singapore on Sunday, will arrive in Brussels only on Wednesday evening — already after the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine.
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Hegseth will not participate in the event, even via video link. This is another manifestation of the distancing of the USA from active participation in the war in Ukraine. Such a move was made against the backdrop of French President Emmanuel Macron’s warnings about the risks of double standards — in case the attention of the United States and its partners shifts to a potential conflict with China by supporting Ukraine.
Former US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin founded the group after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, more than 50 member states of the association have provided Kyiv with about $126 billion in weapons and other military aid, including $66.5 billion from the United States.
We will remind, at the April meeting of the group, Hegset was also absent in person, but then he joined the meeting in the format of a video conference. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius then explained his absence with a tight work schedule.
