Despite Putin's Warning of Retaliation… U.S. Defense Secretary Absent from Ukraine Support Meeting

"U.S. Government Deploys Drone-Defense Weaponry

to the Middle East Instead of Ukraine"

The U.S. Secretary of Defense did not attend, for the first time, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, which discusses support measures for Ukraine. In addition, the U.S. announced that some equipment initially intended for Ukraine would be used for other purposes. With Russian President Vladimir Putin having warned of a strong retaliatory attack against Ukraine, some analysts suggest that the U.S. may be moving to scale back its support for Ukraine.

On the 4th (local time), the U.K. and Germany held a UDCG meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, but U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not attend. The UDCG was launched in 2022 under the initiative of then-President Joe Biden and is made up primarily of NATO member countries. This was the first time that a U.S. Secretary of Defense, who has previously chaired these meetings, was absent since the UDCG's inception. Instead, Christopher Cavoli, Commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) of NATO, was the only American representative.

At the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech by video, appealing for additional support of U.S.-made Patriot systems. Ukraine has depended on American air defense systems such as Patriot and NASAMS to counter Russian missile and drone attacks.

Given that the meeting was held in the same location a day before the NATO Defense Ministers' Meeting, there is speculation that the Secretary’s absence was intentional. However, NATO and Europe tried to quell such interpretations. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated, "Since most of the meetings take place in Europe, it is not always possible for a U.S. official to attend every meeting," and insisted, "the U.S. remains firmly committed to joint efforts on the Ukraine issue."

On the same day, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the U.S. administration had reassigned drone-defense equipment previously procured for Ukraine to U.S. forces in the Middle East. This involved equipment such as special fuses for rockets, which were intended for Ukraine to intercept Russian drones, now being allocated to the U.S. Air Force bases in the Middle East. This is likely due to the need to supply materiel related to U.S. strikes on Yemen's Houthi rebels since March, as well as the need to stockpile weapons in anticipation of possible clashes with Iran. However, the WSJ also suggests this move could indicate a decline in Washington’s willingness to support Ukraine, as seen under the Trump administration.

President Trump spoke with President Putin for more than 70 minutes on this day and relayed that "President Putin strongly stated that he would have to respond to the recent attacks on air force bases (by Ukraine)." This suggests that in response to Ukraine’s recent surprise drone attacks destroying dozens of Russian long-range bombers and other aircraft, President Putin is determined to carry out retaliatory strikes.

However, President Trump did not make any particular comment about the announced Russian attacks. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in relation to the call between the two leaders, "President Trump only emphasized to President Putin that the U.S. did not receive any advance information about the attack plans from Ukraine."

Reporter Kim Joo-wan kjwan@hankyung.com