NATO should be a “more deadly force” and not a diplomatic club, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth, who arrived at a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine, said.
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The meeting of the contact group on Ukraine is taking place on February 12-13 at the NATO headquarters as part of a meeting of the heads of the defense ministries of the bloc countries. The contact group on Ukraine includes more than 50 countries, including 31 NATO member states. Its main task is to coordinate the supply of weapons to Kiev. Initially, the group was created by the United States outside the framework of NATO, and meetings were held under the American chairmanship at the Ramstein air base in Germany. However, with the arrival of the new administration of US President Donald Trump, the situation has changed. The Pentagon confirmed on February 6 that Britain would chair the meetings of the contact group for the first time.
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“I arrived at the NATO headquarters. Our position is clear: NATO should be a more lethal force, not a diplomatic club. It’s time for the allies to show themselves,” Hegseth wrote on the social network X.
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Earlier, the Pentagon stated that at this meeting Hegseth would confirm Trump’s commitment to a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. In addition, he will emphasize the need to strengthen European leadership in providing security assistance to Ukraine. It was noted that the United States would not make any announcements about new weapons for Ukraine at this meeting.
