AP: Pentagon chief to miss Ramstein meeting for first time since launch

For the first time since the US created the Contact Group on Defense Issues in Ukraine ("Ramstein") three years ago, the US Secretary of Defense will not participate in the meeting.

This is reported by the Associated Press, citing sources.

The Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, who returned from a national security conference in Singapore on Sunday, will not arrive in Brussels until Wednesday evening, after the meeting concludes.

The AP sources confirmed that Hegset will also not participate in the video conference meeting.

It is the latest in a series of steps the United States has taken to distance itself from efforts to support Ukraine in the war. And it comes shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron warned at a security conference last weekend that the United States and others risk exposing a dangerous double standard if their focus on a potential conflict with China comes at the cost of abandoning Ukraine.

France and other NATO countries are concerned that the United States is considering withdrawing troops from Europe to the Indo-Pacific region. Macron said that abandoning Ukraine would eventually undermine the credibility of the United States as a deterrent in a potential conflict with China over Taiwan.

Hegsethʼs predecessor Lloyd Austin created the Ramstein group after Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, more than 50 participating countries have provided Ukraine with nearly $126 billion in military aid, of which more than $66.5 billion came from the United States.

Under Austin, the US led the group, and he and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff participated in monthly meetings, both in person and remotely. Hegseth has broken with this practice by withdrawing from the leadership role, not providing new military assistance, and now by ignoring the meeting altogether.

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