Ukraine’s Allies Meet to Boost Military Aid as U.S. Defense Chief Skips Session for First Time
Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting—once a U.S.-led initiative—was instead co-chaired by the UK and Germany, marking a notable shift in Washington’s engagement with Kyiv’s war, and a growing concern among European allies that the U.S. is distancing itself from Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Nearly 50 countries gathered on Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels to ramp up military aid to Ukraine, but for the first time since the coalition was formed in 2022, the U.S. Secretary of Defense was absent from the session, the Associated Press reported.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting—once a U.S.-led initiative—was instead co-chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany, marking a notable shift in Washington’s engagement with Kyiv’s war effort. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was not in attendance and is only expected to arrive in Brussels after the gathering concludes. He will, however, participate in a separate NATO defense ministers meeting on Thursday.
Hegseth’s absence underscores growing concern among European allies that the U.S. is distancing itself from Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its fourth year. The shift follows a series of signals from the Trump administration indicating a reduced American role in the Ukraine war, with officials urging Europe to take greater responsibility for Ukraine’s defense.
Since its launch by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in the early days of the war, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group has helped funnel nearly $126 billion in military assistance to Kyiv, with more than $66.5 billion coming from the United States. But since President Donald Trump took office in January, Washington has not chaired any of the group’s meetings and has not announced new weapons packages for Ukraine.
The latest developments come as the humanitarian and military toll of the war deepens. According to U.N. estimates, over 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, alongside tens of thousands of combatants on both sides.
In a bid to boost Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities, the United Kingdom announced ahead of the meeting that it plans to increase its drone production tenfold. British Defense Secretary John Healey stated that U.K. firms are incorporating frontline experience into the design of new drones, aiming to both assist Ukraine and enhance the U.K.’s own defense posture.
“British companies are using lessons learned from the battlefield to develop advanced new drones to help protect Ukraine’s civilians and also strengthen our own national security,” Healey said.
Meanwhile, concerns are rising in Europe over a potential U.S. military pivot toward the Indo-Pacific, possibly at the expense of NATO’s eastern flank. French President Emmanuel Macron warned last week that abandoning Ukraine could severely damage the West’s credibility in confronting future threats, especially from China over Taiwan.
As U.S. leadership on Ukraine weakens, the burden of sustaining Kyiv’s defense increasingly falls on European allies—a realignment that may reshape transatlantic security dynamics for years to come, according to AP.
