Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will not attend the Ukraine Defense Liaison Group meeting again this week, making the US one of the few countries not to send a top civilian defense official to the crucial gathering of Ukrainian allies.<\/p>\n
Instead, Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby will participate in the virtual meeting, as he did at the last meeting in February, according to two U.S. officials who, like others in this story, were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.<\/p>\n
Hegseth has attended only sporadic meetings over the past year \u2014 a sign that the Trump administration has other priorities and is increasingly expecting Europe to shoulder the burden of supplying arms to Kiev.<\/p>\n
More than 50 defense ministers from countries committed to supporting Ukraine will gather virtually on Wednesday. The meeting will be led by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Britain’s defense chief John Healey, who has taken over responsibility for coordinating the group after the Trump administration left his leadership post soon after taking office.<\/p>\n
The NATO military leader, US General Alexus Grinkevich, is unable to attend. But his deputy, UK Air Chief Marshal Sir Johnny Stringer, and the deputy commander of NATO security assistance and training for Ukraine, German Major General Ulf H\u00e4usler, will attend the meeting.<\/p>\n
“NATO will continue to provide vital support to Ukraine,” Grinkevich’s spokesman, Colonel Martin O’Donnell, said in a statement. “The participation of these two leaders in this meeting ensures this.”<\/p>\n
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has publicly and privately told allies<\/u>","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/09\/05\/pentgon-national-defense-strategy-china-homeland-western-hemisphere-00546310","_Identification": :"0000019d-8c83-d980-a19f-deb7e1930001","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-8c83-d980-a19f-deb7e1930002","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Told colleagues publicly and privately<\/u> It is focusing on homeland security and the Western Hemisphere, and expects Europe to defend itself. This shift was evident in the White House’s National Security Strategy and the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy, which pushed Europe down the list of US concerns, below the Western Hemisphere, homeland defense, and Asia Pacific.<\/p>\n