NATO secretary Mark Rutte confirmed on Wednesday that Ukraine had been invited to its Summit in the Netherlands, set to take place later this month.
This is sure to ruffle Russia's feathers, especially since its peace memorandum submitted to Kyiv at the latest Istanbul peace talks demanded that it stay neutral as one of the conditions for a ceasefire.
The meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), an alliance of NATO member nations, certain non-NATO members, and European Union nations, is taking place at the bloc's headquarters in Brussels today.
Co-chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany, the meeting comes amid renewed US efforts to bring about peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Yet, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's absence—the first time in three years that a Pentagon head skipped a UDCG meeting—has prompted speculations about Washington's slow drift away from its efforts to prise apart Moscow and Kyiv, after warning it would abandon peace efforts altogether if no resolution was reached.
When asked about Hegseth's absence, Rutte assured the gathering that America was still “completely committed” to NATO and helping Ukraine, adding that the Pentagon chief would attend NATO talks tomorrow.
The former Dutch prime minister also stated that the UDCG was critical for the adoption of more ambitious targets to prepare for new, emerging threats.
“These targets set out what forces and concrete capabilities every ally needs to provide to strengthen our deterrence and defence. Air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, and large land manoeuvre formations are among our top priorities,” he said.
“We need more resources, forces and capabilities so that we are prepared to face any threat, and to implement our collective defence plans in full”, Rutte emphasised, adding that in order to deliver on those new targets, a significantly higher defence spending was necessary.
In that regard, UK Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed plans to deliver drones to assist Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, emphasising that this was “not just Ukraine’s battle”, but a battle for “the security of Europe, for our security today, tomorrow and for our future generations”.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov (centre) at the UDCG meeting on Wednesday, flanked by UK Defence Secretary John Healey (left) and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (right) | Reuters
The UDCG meeting will be followed by a meeting of defence ministers from NATO nations on Thursday, which he has touted as a “huge leap forward”.
