US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth will not attend today's meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG).

Hegseth will not arrive in Brussels before the end of the conference and will not participate in the event online. This will be the first meeting of about 50 military supporters of Kiev in the so-called Ramstein format that the Pentagon chief will not attend, the Kiev Independent reported.

According to Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson, Hagsett's travel schedule does not allow him to attend the meeting.

‘The United States is focused on ending the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible, under conditions that establish lasting peace,’ she added.

The United Kingdom and Germany will chair the meeting on 4 June, which will take place at a time when Russia continues to reject a ceasefire and, according to reports, is preparing new offensives against Ukraine.

Ukraine has called on its partners to invest more in arms production and provide additional funds for air defence, namely Patriot systems, to repel intensifying Russian air attacks.

Hegseth's predecessor, former Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, launched the UDCG after the outbreak of full-scale war with Russia in 2022 to coordinate assistance among Kiev's allies.

The last UDCG meeting in the Ramstein format took place in Brussels on 11 April, chaired by London and Berlin, with allies committing to long-term military aid for Ukraine worth over €21 billion.

Hagseth attended the Ramstein summit on 12 February, but not as its chair, a position previously held by Austin. Instead, the summit was led by his British counterpart, John Healy. Previous reports suggested that the defence minister would miss the April meeting, but he ultimately joined via video link.

Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has begun to reduce the American presence in various international pro-Ukrainian initiatives as he seeks to broker a ceasefire and peace agreement between Kiev and Moscow.

With peace talks stalled, Trump has signalled that he may abandon his efforts. The US president has remained remarkably silent on the latest developments in the war, including the recent peace talks in Istanbul and Ukraine's massive drone attack on Russian strategic aviation. | BGNES