U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hagist will not attend today's meeting of 50 defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, which will focus on coordinating military aid to Ukraine. This marks the first time in three years that a U.S. Defense Secretary has not participated in such an event. During NATO defense ministers' regular meetings, participants coordinated war funding for Ukraine, which became a central component of Western aid to Kyiv, but the Trump administration has distanced itself from these conferences, transferring leadership to Britain and Germany.