Pentagon ends leadership of aid group to Ukraine amid US distancing from Europe - Politico
Kyiv • UNN
The US is relinquishing leadership of the NATO Security Assistance Group in Germany, which coordinates military aid to Ukraine. The transition will take up to a year, but work with Ukraine will not be interrupted.
The Pentagon is relinquishing leadership of the U.S.-led NATO command in Germany that coordinates military aid to Ukraine, marking the latest sign of America's broader withdrawal from its closest allies, Politico reports, writes UNN.
Details
According to a U.S. official and three people familiar with the plan, another NATO member will eventually take over leadership of the Security Assistance Group (SAG), which has played a central role in equipping and training Ukrainian troops since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. However, the publication notes, the U.S. stepping away from leading a key program on the continent underscores the extent to which America is distancing itself from European partners.
This move will mean that the U.S. will no longer help shape what Ukraine's future armed forces will look like. It follows a series of changes the Trump administration has made to the long-standing alliance. The Pentagon has reduced the number of American officers leading commands in Europe and canceled some rotations. Officials are reviewing the status of troops stationed on the continent and warning countries that they will not receive assistance unless their defense spending increases.
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"A European or Canadian officer taking command... will be another example of allies taking on greater responsibility," said a NATO official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss the unannounced plan.
The leadership transition will take up to a year, sources said, but insisted it will not disrupt the work being done with Ukraine. Although NATO will lead the program, U.S. European Command will remain involved through an American deputy.
"Support for Ukraine remains a top priority," the NATO official said.
"SAG-U was always meant to be temporary," the Pentagon said in a statement. "This effort is aimed at burden shifting within the Alliance to support Ukraine and to align U.S. resources in accordance with the National Defense Strategy."
The Security Assistance Group, based in Wiesbaden, Germany, plays a unique role, the publication notes. It coordinates the movement of military equipment into Ukraine and oversees training and logistical support for the Ukrainian armed forces.
This change follows an increasingly familiar pattern of the U.S. handing over NATO commands to European countries.
The Trump administration announced in February that it would withdraw some senior military command from the continent and transfer control of NATO's Joint Command Center in Norfolk, Virginia, to the United Kingdom.
Italy will take command of the Joint Command Center in Naples.
And Germany and Poland will take control of the Joint Command in Brunssum, the Netherlands. The command, led by a German general, specializes in multinational forces.
Following these announcements, the U.S. withdrew rotational army brigades from Romania and Poland. Later, Trump canceled a decision to send troops to Poland, but no steps were taken to resume the deployment.
Army Lieutenant General Curtis Buzzard, who took command of SAG in mid-2024, will leave the country on Monday and hand it over to Army Lieutenant General Guillaume Borper, who will scale back U.S. efforts.
The unit was initially established at the NATO Washington Summit in July 2024, and it was always envisioned that Europe would take the lead role.
"But given the political moment in Washington — and Trump's persistent antipathy toward the continent and NATO — another reduction in the U.S. presence is noteworthy," the publication writes.
NATO allies have broadly supported the handover of command by America, and some note that a greater role for Europe makes sense.
"For us, this step has more advantages than disadvantages," said a Ukrainian official. "It reduces the risks for us that may arise from political turbulence in the United States and facilitates military logistics in the interests of Ukraine."
Nevertheless, some in Kyiv are concerned that transferring command to NATO's complex bureaucracy could slow down the delivery of aid to the front line, the official said. "No one can replace the U.S. capabilities in satellite reconnaissance, target designation, and heavy transport aircraft logistics," he pointed out.
But the Trump administration is pressing ahead.
Speaking to NATO defense ministers in Brussels last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that U.S. allies "must step up."
"Trump has been very clear on this issue for many years," Hegseth continued, "and across two administrations, and for too long, NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street. No more."