NATO allies await US defense secretary’s visit, the first by a member of the Trump administration

BRUSSELS (AP) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will on Wednesday become the first member of the new Trump administration to visit NATO, where the allies are keen to understand how America now plans to influence the course of the war in Ukraine.

Hegseth's trip comes just ahead of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. Most U.S. allies fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stop at Ukraine's borders if he wins, and that Europe's biggest land war in decades poses an existential threat to their security.

President Donald Trump has promised to quickly end the war. He's complained that it is costing the American taxpayer too much money. Some allies worry that a hasty deal might be clinched on terms that are not favorable to Ukraine.

Hegseth will first take part in a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO's Brussels headquarters. Former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set up the main international forum for drumming up arms and ammunition for Ukraine in 2022.

Over the last three years, around 50 countries have collectively provided Ukraine more than $126 billion in weapons and military assistance. But this week for the first time, the meeting will be convened by another country; the United Kingdom.

No decision has been made on who might chair the next meeting, if one is convened.

Hegseth was not expected to make any announcement on new weapons for Ukraine. He was not set to meet one on one with his Ukraine counterparts, but rather to be in a "listening mode" at the meeting, as well as at Thursday's NATO defense ministerial, one U.S. official said.

"The Secretary will reiterate President Trump's commitment for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible. He will also highlight the need for increased European leadership on security assistance to Ukraine," the Pentagon said, prior to Hegseth's departure.

America's 31 NATO allies also want to hear what a new Trump administration has in store for the world's biggest security organization. Trump traumatized his European partners last time by threatening not to defend any member that doesn't meet NATO guidelines for military spending.

NATO is founded on the principle that an attack on any ally must be considered an attack on them all and met with a collective response. Membership is considered to be the ultimate security guarantee, and it's one that Ukraine is trying to secure.

A senior NATO diplomat said that "constructive dialogue with the new American administration would be the most important outcome" of the meeting, along with a U.S. commitment to do everything we can to keep Ukraine in the fight."

The diplomat spoke to reporters on condition that he not be named, which is common practice among many member countries who make their envoys available to brief media about the latest developments ahead of NATO ministerial meetings and summits.

But Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said over the weekend that "the Europeans have to own this conflict going forward. President Trump is going to end it. And then in terms of security guarantees, that is squarely going to be with the Europeans.''

Ukraine's security needs and defense spending will be discussed on Thursday. European allies have hiked their military budgets since Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine, and 23 are estimated to have reached or exceeded last year the target of spending 2% of GDP.

However, a third still do not, and Trump is almost certain to target them again. Recently, Trump called for NATO members to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, a level that no member has reached so far - not even Poland, which is the closest, spending over 4% and expected to approach 5% this year.

NATO diplomats estimate that members would need to spend 3.5-3.7% of GDP on their military budgets to be able to effectively execute new defense plans that have been drawn up in case of an attack on allied territory.

The organization's leaders are expected to agree on new spending targets at their next planned summit, in The Hague on June 24-26.