Europe has taken the reins of military support for Kyiv, amid uncertainty surrounding Washington’s future role. Ukraine’s European allies breathed a sigh of relief on Friday when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a virtual appearance at talks held to coordinate military assistance to Ukraine.
Until then, it wasn’t clear whether the Pentagon chief would take part at all.
"He is traveling, but was determined to join us," UK Defense Secretary John Healey said of his US counterpart, as he called the meeting of some 50 countries to order at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group was founded by Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, in 2022 after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, drawing in countries far beyond the NATO military alliance to monthly meetings where they were regularly challenged to increase their military contributions to Kyiv.
With the Trump administration now focused on getting Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, Friday’s meeting was instead chaired by the UK and Germany.
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