For the first time in the three years since the establishment of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein Format, the US secretary of defense will not take part in its meeting.

Source : Associated Press, citing a US official

Details : For the first time since the US created the international group to coordinate military assistance to Ukraine three years ago, the Pentagon chief will not be present at a meeting of over 50 other defence leaders on Wednesday 4 June.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who returned from a national security conference in Singapore on Sunday, will only arrive in Brussels on Wednesday evening, after the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting has concluded.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AP that Hegseth would not participate by video either.

Quote from АР : "It is the latest in a series of steps that the US has taken to distance itself from the Ukraine war effort. 

And it comes on the heels of French President Emmanuel Macron's warning at the security conference last weekend that the US and others risk a dangerous double standard if their concentration on a potential conflict with China is done at the cost of abandoning Ukraine."

Background : 

• Hegseth's predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the contact group after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
• Since then, more than 50 member countries have jointly provided Ukraine with around US$126 billion in military assistance, including over US$66.5 billion from the US.
• Under Austin's leadership, the US chaired the group, while he, along with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the monthly meetings, held both in person and via video.

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