The US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke to reporters at the Shangri-La Dialogue Asian Security Summit. Some of the questions concerned Ukraine.
The transcript of Hegsethʼs conversation with reporters was published by the US Embassy in Singapore.
Hegseth said the US has learned a lot from Ukraine and continues to learn from its experience in the field of drones. This includes the ability to quickly scale their numbers and adapt technology on a weekly basis. The Trump administration plans to budget $56 billion for drones in the 2027 budget.
When reporters asked Hegseth about President Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs request to help provide air defense systems and missiles, which Ukraine is currently critically short of, he replied that the United States is changing the way it produces important munitions so that American companies can supply much more of them.
Hegseth said the US can help Ukraine and has helped where it can and has enabled Europe to do more and that he is encouraged by Europeʼs commitment to spending more [on aid to Ukraine]. The US wants Ukraine and Europe to be able to defend themselves and will find a way to facilitate that.
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