Overview

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will not attend Wednesday’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels, marking the first absence by a U.S. Pentagon chief since the group’s 2022 founding.
• Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander, will represent the Pentagon at the summit.
• The U.S. has not announced any new military aid to Ukraine since President Trump took office, and Hegseth’s absence reinforces the administration’s disengagement.
• French President Emmanuel Macron warned that reducing support for Ukraine could weaken U.S. credibility in deterring potential conflicts, notably with China over Taiwan.
• A senior Ukrainian delegation led by First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is in Washington for discussions on defense assistance, sanctions and postwar recovery.