US Defense Minister Pete Hegseth commented on his absence at the 28th meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine in the Rammstein format, which took place on June 4 in Brussels. About this informs The Guardian.
During the briefing, journalists asked whether such an absence could indicate a decrease in support for Ukraine from the United States. In response, Hegseth denied such an assumption and explained that he was represented at the meeting by the US permanent representative to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, who, according to the minister, contributed to the work of the group.
“Since the beginning of the administration of US President Donald Trump, we have been working with our British and German counterparts to lead this contact group, which they have done, and I am grateful to them for that.” Hegseth declared.
Earlier, Pentagon spokesman Kingsley Wilson explained the absence of the US defense secretary at the meeting due to scheduling problems.
We will remind you that on June 4, another meeting in the Rammstein format was held in Brussels, in which the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi also took part in the online format. During the meeting, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s air defense. Belgium, Estonia, Italy, Sweden and Turkey plan to join this initiative. In addition, British Defense Minister John Geely confirmed his country’s intention to significantly increase the supply of drones to the Ukrainian defense forces.
