US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Will will become the first member of the new Trump administration to visit NATO on Wednesday, and allies are keen to understand America’s plans to influence the current state of war in Ukraine.
Hegseth’s trip marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Most US allies fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stop at the Ukrainian border even if he wins, and in decades Europe’s biggest land war is an existential threat to their security I’m afraid to bring.
President Donald Trump has pledged to end the war soon. He complains that American taxpayers are paying too much. Some allies are worried that they may rush to trade on conditions that are unfavourable for Ukraine.
Hegseth will first participate in a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Liaison Group at NATO’s Brussels headquarters. Former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin established the Main International Forum in 2022 to smash Ukrainian weapons and ammunition.
Over the past three years, around 50 countries have provided over $126 billion in weapons and military aid. However, for the first time this week, the meeting will be convened by another country. UK.
If the next meeting chair is convened, no decision has been made as to who will chair.
Hegseth was not expected to announce the new Ukrainian weapons. He wasn’t aiming to meet one-on-one with his Ukrainian counterparts, but was “listening mode” at the meeting and NATO defense minister on Thursday, US officials said.
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“The secretary will repeat President Trump’s commitment to the diplomatic end to war in Ukraine as soon as possible. He also highlights the need for an increase in European leadership in security assistance to Ukraine,” the Pentagon said. said before Hegses’ departure.
The 31 NATO allies in the United States want to hear what the new Trump administration has for the world’s largest security organization. Trump hurt his European partners last time by threatening to not defend members who do not meet the NATO guidelines for military spending.
NATO is based on the principle that attacks on any allies were considered as attacks on all of them and met a collective response. Membership is considered the ultimate security guarantee and is what Ukraine is trying to secure.
A senior NATO diplomat said, “The constructive dialogue with the new American administration will be the most important result of the conference, along with the US commitment to do everything possible to keep Ukraine in the fight.” Ta.
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The diplomat spoke to the reporter on the condition that he had not been appointed. This is a common practice among many member states that prior to NATO ministerial meetings and summits, envoys on latest developments can be easily accessed to the media.
But Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz said over the weekend that “Europeans must own this conflict in the future.” President Trump intends to end it. And from a security assurance perspective, it would be totally present with Europeans.”
Ukraine’s security needs and defense spending will be discussed on Thursday. European allies have been hiking military budgets since Putin ordered his troops to Ukraine, with 23 people estimated to have reached or exceeded the target of spending 2% of GDP last year.
But a third isn’t yet, and Trump is almost certain to target them again. Recently, Trump has asked NATO members to increase their defensive spending to 5% of GDP. This is a level that the members have not reached before. This is not even in Poland, but is expected to spend more than 4%, bringing closer to 5% this year.
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NATO diplomats estimate that members will need to spend 3.5-3.7% of GDP on military budgets so that new defence plans created in the case of attacks on allied territory can be effectively implemented.
The organization’s leaders are expected to agree to new spending targets at the next planned summit, which will be held in The Hague from June 24-26.
