CNN
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As the new Trump administration works head-on to transform security responsibilities in Ukraine and Europe into NATO and the EU, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses said at his first meeting with European counterparts on Wednesday. It is expected to take on the role of the rear seat driver in the first meeting with the counterparts.
In particular, the Ukrainian Defense Liaison Group meeting in Brussels is chaired by the UK. Under the Biden administration, the rally was convened by the United States and established the group shortly after the Russian invasion in 2022.
At a series of European conferences this week, General Keith Kellogg, Secretary of State Hegses, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump, President Dent Trump, is Ukraine and Russia, and has become a counterpart of Europe and NATO. urges them to play a much larger role in supporting them. Defense officials and people familiar with the issue told CNN.
To that end, at the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting on Thursday, Hegses is expected to encourage members to increase their defense spending to 5% of their respective GDP, increasing their defense industry base and launch weapons and equipment more quickly. Masu. .
But US allies are still waiting to see Hegus’ request in a closed room, NATO officials told CNN. Two other European officials have said they have heard nothing “specific” about the Ukrainian administration’s plans, and they are wary of trusting policy statements that do not come directly from Trump himself. He said that.
“Who is really calling the shot?” asked one official.
At that point, Kellogg told Newsmax while discussing the vision of peace with allies at this week’s Munich Security Conference, “The person who presents a peace plan is not Keith Kellogg, but President of the United States.”
However, Kellogg meets with other countries that support Ukraine, according to those familiar with the conference. Last week he met with more than six ambassadors in Washington for discussion before involving more senior ministers and officials from various countries.
Kellogg and a European official who sat recently said the administration is still “collecting ideas, options, both sticks and carrots.” And while these ideas may be important, in the end, no one knows when and how President Trump will move. ”
However, officials added Kellogg “has an overwhelming confidence and belief that Trump will negotiate a strong deal, while what constitutes a strong deal remains undefined.”
The White House secured US citizen Mark Vogel on Tuesday to release the US citizen from Russia’s detention amid signs that the Trump administration is pursuing multiple channels to get a peace deal between Russia and the ukrain, the White House secured the release of US citizen Mark Vogel from Russia’s detention It was announced that it had done so.
This release, part of a wider interaction with Russia, was negotiated by Trump’s Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkov, who said, “as a sincere show from the Russians and as a sign that we are moving in the right direction.” , moving in the right direction to end a brutal and terrible war. Ukraine,” said national security adviser Mike Waltz.
The future of US aid to Ukraine remains uncertain
Meanwhile, NATO and European officials say they have been able to collect little since Hegses’ first weeks as secretaries. Meanwhile, he has focused on issues of domestic culture wars, including the surge in military assets, eliminating US military diversity, equity and inclusion programs. A border in the southern United States, where Marines and soldiers helped with logistical tasks such as building barriers and returning immigrants between detention facilities.
So far, there is no indication that the pentagon under Hegses will be immersed in the US military stockpile and will send weapons and equipment to Ukraine, a process known as the president’s drawdown authority. The Department of Defense has not yet made it with almost $4 billion in Congress-certified funds left from its previous administration.
Trump told Fox on Sunday that he wanted minerals “worth $50 billion worth of rare earth” from Ukraine’s key mineral deposits in exchange for continued US aid to Ukraine. Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent is scheduled to travel to Kiev this week to discuss minerals, the two familiar with his plans told CNN. Trump confirmed Tuesday that Bescent will meet Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky this week in Ukraine.
Sources familiar with the administration’s idea of US investment in Ukraine’s natural resources said the plan would ultimately include priority access to Ukrainian minerals, supported by US funding and participation from American companies. It said it could include the US to secure it. It would also give the US a shares in Ukrainian security, which appeals to Kiev, the person said.
The Trump administration has not completely blocked aid to Ukraine. Military aid from packages announced under previous administrations is still flowing, and Kellogg advocated that fatal aid would continue if Kiy agreed to agree to peace talks with Moscow. It’s there.
However, it remains to be seen whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to do so without obtaining any assurances that Ukraine will never join NATO.
Meanwhile, there is a hardening consensus within the administration that President Putin, not Zelensky, will be the main hurdle for leading both sides to the negotiation table, a source familiar with the White House’s ideas on the issue said. . Similarly, European officials said they saw no indication that Putin is willing to engage in meaningful negotiations.
Part of Kellogg’s task at this week’s Munich security conference is to encourage Europeans to do more to lead Putin to the table, and another info familiar with his upcoming trips The source said.
Zelensky told Fox last week. However, President Putin has either not changed his demands in almost three years of the war, or has shown that Russia will recognize the territory that has been seized.
Trump threatened Russia with more sanctions if he didn’t begin peace talks. However, the ultimatum has not been well received in Moscow.
“The Russian troops will end the war within the time frame set by Commander-in-Chief President Vladimir Vladimir Vladimir Vladimir Vladimir Vladimir Vladimir Putin,” a Russian lawmaker told television in the Russian state last month.
In a statement previewing Hegseth’s trip, the Department of Defense said twice that Hegseth emphasized the need for “increasing European leadership” to NATO and its EU allies.
NATO and Europe began plans to retreat the US from the conflict last year, beginning to raise responsibility for aid to Ukraine. This is the first time the UK has chaired a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Liaison Group. It is a coalition of over 50 countries that focuses on streamlining the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine.
The forum was first convened by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and was led by the United States at all meetings since its inception. It is not yet clear who will chair the forum’s subsequent meetings.
Hegses briefly spoke about Ukraine during his confirmation hearing, describing Ukraine as a “good man” and Russia as a “invader” and repeating Trump’s reprimands that the war “needs to an end.” But the Trump administration has yet to clarify a clear plan to do so.
During the same hearing, Hegses called Russia’s 2014 Crimean invasion “a minor invasion.” This raises questions between US Europe and NATO allies as to whether he is taking Putin’s long-standing fixations by seriously controlling Ukrainian territory.
That obsession is why Zelensky insisted security guarantees from the US and Europe before Ukraine agreed to commence peace talks with Putin. If Russia tries to invade Ukraine again in the future, Zelensky wants a promise to help the West come to Kiev’s defense.
However, Waltz told NBC on Sunday that the US would not provide security guarantees to Ukraine at all. And when he said he “wanted” Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, he suggested last week that if Trump wanted to continue hinting, Ukraine must start paying for the US.
“We need to recover these costs. It will be a partnership with Ukrainians in terms of natural resources, oil and gas, and the purchase of ours,” the national security adviser said. Ta. “These conversations happen this week, and I think the fundamental principle here is that Europeans must own this conflict in the future. President Trump is going to end it. , from the point of security assurance, that seems like it would be totally a European.”
One important topic of discussion regarding security assurance is the possibility of the deployment of European peacekeeping forces into Ukraine after reaching a deal. Those familiar with the issue told CNN what the UK and France are discussing.
The United States did not send troops to keep peace, sources explained, but the allies signal that American “enablers” are needed to make peacekeeping forces viable. It could include intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance help to protect additional air defense systems.
