Defense &
National Security
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Defense &
National Security
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Hegseth skips Ukraine arming group meeting |
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is again skipping the meeting of nations supporting Ukraine as the administration turns its focus to the Middle East.
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Alton Dunham/US Navy via AP
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is again skipping the meeting of about 50 nations that support Ukraine in its defense against Russia.
Instead of Hegseth, Pentagon’s policy chief Elbridge Colby will virtually attend the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting scheduled for Wednesday, a defense official confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.
Hegseth, who has previously skipped the meeting, which the United Kingdom and Germany will lead, means Washington will not have its top civilian defense official at the huddle led by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey.
The Trump administration gave him the leadership role of UDCG, which was formed during the Biden administration by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Hegseth did not attend the group’s meeting at NATO headquarters last April; instead called in. He did not attend the June meeting, whereas the February huddle was attended by Colby.
Hegseth's absence from the meeting signals the administration is shifting its focus away from Ukraine and toward the Middle East, where the U.S. has engaged in a weeks-long air strike campaign against Iran.
Read the full report at thehill.com.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I'm Filip Timotija — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
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How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
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President Trump is rolling the dice again in relation to Iran. His order for the Navy to block ships as they go to and from Iranian ports is pushing the conflict into a new cycle of escalation. Trump is adamant he can use renewed pressure to force Tehran to make concessions that it has refused so far — including in the Saturday talks that broke without agreement in Islamabad, Pakistan. The danger is that the …
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The U.S. proposed a 20-year halt to Iran’s nuclear program in recent talks in Pakistan, according to multiple reports. Sources close to the talks told The New York Times that a two-decade “suspension” of Iranian nuclear activity was suggested by the U.S. in the weekend negotiations. Iran responded with their own plan of stopping nuclear activity for, at most, five years, U.S. and Iranian officials told the Times. Following …
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Upcoming things we're watching on our beat:
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- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy will host a forum tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET on "Moving from war to diplomacy, what's next for Iran, Lebanon and Gaza."
- The Center for Strategic and International Studies is hosting a discussion at 2:30 p.m. ET tomorrow on "Ukraine’s Economy: Current Realities and Future Prospects."
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