US defense secretary to skip Ramstein summit for the first time, media reports
U.S. Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth will not take part in the Ramstein-format meeting of Ukraine's partners next week, Defense News magazine reported on April 2, citing undisclosed official sources.
This would make the April 11 summit in Brussels, co-chaired by the U.K. and Germany, the first instance when the Pentagon's chief will be absent since the format's founding in 2022.
Hegseth's predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, launched the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) after the outbreak of Russia's full-scale war to coordinate assistance among some 50 of Kyiv's allies.
A U.S. official source told Defense News that Hegseth is not expected to join even virtually and that the Pentagon is unlikely to send any senior representatives to the summit.
Since taking office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has begun scaling down U.S. presence in various international pro-Ukraine initiatives as he seeks to broker a ceasefire and a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.
Hegseth attended the previous Ramstein summit on Feb. 12 but not as its chairman, a position held by Austin until then. His British counterpart, John Healey, presided over the summit instead.
At the previous Ramstein summit, Hegseth delivered a jarring speech to Ukraine's partners, calling the country's return to pre-2014 borders and accession to NATO "unrealistic" in a major turn from the Biden administration's rhetoric.
The comments signified the foreign policy pivot brought about by the Trump administration, which has yet to approve a single additional package of military aid to Ukraine.
Thus far, Trump has only allowed the continued flow of assistance approved by his predecessor, briefly pausing it last month to pressure Ukraine to the negotiating table.
The new U.S. leadership has also repeatedly urged Europe to boost its defense spending and increase the share of its assistance to Ukraine.
Katie Marie Davies
