Politico: New Pentagon chief to attend upcoming Ramstein meeting
Kyiv • UNN
Pete Hughes will participate in the Ramstein meeting on February 12 at NATO headquarters. For the first time, the meeting will be hosted by the United Kingdom instead of the United States, and the future leadership of the format remains in question.
The newly appointed US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth plans to take part in a meeting of the Ramstein Contact Group on Ukraine's defense, which will be held next week at NATO headquarters in Brussels. This was reported by Politico, according to UNN.
Details
One U.S. Defense Department official and four informed sources said that Hagesse, who is traveling to Europe next week, plans to attend a Ukrainian meeting at NATO headquarters.
At the same time, for the first time, the United Kingdom will host a meeting of Ukraine's allies in the Contact Group format. UK Defense Secretary John Healey will chair the meeting on Wednesday, temporarily taking over from the US, the British Defense Ministry said.
This meeting will precede the NATO Defense Ministerial Summit, but the Ramstein format is much broader, with more than 50 partner countries participating. The contact group was established in April 2022 as a platform to coordinate assistance to Kyiv, ranging from fighter pilot training to cybersecurity.
Despite the change of leadership in the Pentagon, the US's continued involvement in Ramstein remains in question.
The Donald Trump administration has not yet committed to continuing military support for Ukraine, and no new commitments are expected from Washington at the next meeting.
Addendum
The previous, 25th meeting of the Ramstein was chaired by former US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, a few days before Trump returned to the White House. There are already signs of a change in Washington's policy toward Kyiv: last week, the supply of American equipment from Poland to Ukraine was suspended for one day.
At the same time, the allies remain united in their support for Ukraine.
The contact group will meet before the meeting of NATO defense ministers to discuss priorities for Ukraine as the international community continues to work together to support Kyiv in its fight against Putin's illegal invasion,
The US Department of Defense has not yet commented on the situation.
Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair noted that the Ramstein format has significantly strengthened NATO thanks to American leadership and the creation of "coalitions of capabilities." According to him, the United Kingdom is temporarily taking over this role, but will continue to lead in the future.
However, Britain's long-term leadership in Ramstein is still in question, as negotiations on the group's permanent leadership continue.
The British are excellent at coordinating such processes. But now the level of trust in the US is quite low - we are too unpredictable,
At the same time, he noted that without Washington, it would be difficult to fill the gap in military support for Ukraine.
Recall
The next meeting in the Ramstein format will be held on February 12 under the leadership of the United Kingdom instead of the United States.
