Hegseeth will skip a meeting about organizing military aid to Ukraine

Washington – For the first time since the US created an international group to coordinate military help Three years ago, the American Pentagon Chief will not be present against Ukraine when more than 50 other defense leaders meet on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Pete Hegseethwho returned from one National Security Conference in Singapore On Sunday it will only arrive in Brussels on Wednesday evening, after the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group is over.

An American officer, who speaks on condition of anonymity to discuss planning details, confirmed that Hegseeth will not participate in the video conference either.

It is the last in a series of steps that the US has taken to distance themselves from the Ukraine war effort. And it is on the heels of the French president Emmanuel Macron’s Warning at the Security Conference last weekend that the US and others risk a dangerous double standard if their concentration in a potential conflict with China is done at the expense of leaving Ukraine.

France and other NATO countries are concerned that the US is that Is considering pulling back troops from Europe To move them to the Indo-Pacific. Macron said that leaving Ukraine would eventually eradicate American credibility when putting on a potentially conflict with China over Taiwan.

Hegseeth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the group afterwards Russia invaded Ukraine In 2022. Since then, more than 50 member countries have provided collective Ukraine with around $ 126 billion in weapons and military aid, including More than $ 66.5 billion from the US

Under the leadership of Austin, the US served as chairman of the group, and he and the chairman of the joint staff chefs attended monthly meetings, which were both personally and per video.

Hegseeth has updated that position by stepping away from a leading role, not offering new military help and now leaving the meeting completely.

During his first meeting with the group and a subsequent NATO ministers of Defense who gather in Brussels in February, Hegseeth warned that Ukraine should give up his NATO bid and be Push to reclaim all Russian occupied territory. And he indicated that President Donald Trump is determined to accept Europe the most financial and military responsibilities for the defense of Ukraine.

Since Trump took office, there have been no new announcements of American military or weapon help to Ukraine.

Hegseeth also turned leadership of the group to Germany and the United Kingdom. Although he will not attend the session on Wednesday, General Christopher Cavoli, head of the American European Command and the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO will be there.

In Washington, a senior Ukrainian delegation is now led by the first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko in the city for conversations on defense, sanctions and post -war recovery, said Andrii Yermak, the head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine.

The Ukrainians met special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, who discuss recent conversations with the Russians and circumstances on the battlefield, Yermak on social media. Svyrydenko and Yermak are also expected to meet Marco Rubio and other officials Minister on Wednesday.

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Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.