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The Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at NATO headquarters
is going to be chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany. U.S.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would only arrive in Brussels
after it's over. He will participate in a meeting of NATO
defense ministers on Thursday.
His absence is the latest in a series of steps that Washington
has taken to distance itself from Ukraine's efforts to repel
Russia's full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.
More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according
to U.N. estimates, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers on
both sides.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, the U.K. said that it plans a
tenfold increase in drone production to help Ukraine. Drones
have become a decisive factor in the war, now in its fourth
year.
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said that 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.”
Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the group after
Russia launched all-out war on Ukraine in 2022. Since then,
Ukraine’s backers have collectively provided around $126 billion
in weapons and military assistance, including more than $66.5
billion from the U.S.
The United States hasn't chaired a meeting of the Ukraine
Defense Contact Group since the Trump administration took office
in January.
European NATO allies are concerned that the U.S. might withdraw
troops from Europe to focus on the Indo-Pacific. French
President Emmanuel Macron has warned that abandoning Ukraine
would erode U.S. credibility in deterring any conflict with
China over Taiwan.
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