Hegseth’s Expected Absence at a Ukraine Defense Meeting Frustrates Lawmakers

“I think it’s ill-advised,” Rep. Mike Rogers said of the United States’ diminished participation in European allyship around the war.

Pete Hegseth Charles Q. Brown Jr. AP-25027522881574

Kevin Wolf/AP

The Trump administration isn’t planning to send any senior defense officials to two key meetings with European allies this week — a decision that’s rankled Ukraine’s biggest proponents on Capitol Hill.

“I think it’s ill-advised,” Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s diminished participation in matters of Ukraine defense.

The United Kingdom and France are bringing together close to 30 countries in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday for a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing.” Many of those same countries are meeting Friday for the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.