The US Secretary of Defense will travel to Europe, on his first international trip in office, where he will visit, among others, the headquarters of the European Command and the United States Africa Command.
The new Secretary of Defense of the United States, Pete Hegseth, addresses Europe, his first international trip since he assumed the position last month.
Hegesh started from the Andrews joint base, on the outskirts of Washington, early Monday, to make scales in Germany, Belgium and Poland.
In Germany, the Secretary of Defense plans to visit the headquarters of the European Command and the United States Africa Command, to receive updated information about the events in both regions.
From Germany, Hegseth will travel to Brussels for the NATO Ministerial Meeting of Defense and a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Wednesday and Thursday.
American defense officials point out that Hegseth is expected to press the United States allies in Europe to increase their defense expense and assume more leadership role in the face of the challenges facing the old continent.
It is also expected to echo the call of the US President Donald Trump for a diplomatic purpose of war between Russia and Ukraine, which is about to enter his third year.
The meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a group of almost 50 countries that have pledged to support Ukraine in their efforts to repel Russia, is the first one that takes place during the new Trump administration and will be the First directed by a country that is not the United States.
This week's meeting, 26, will be led by Great Britain.
The Ministry of Defense of Great Britain, in a statement on Thursday, said that the meeting will focus on the “priorities of Ukraine while the international community continues to work together to support Ukraine in its fight against the illegal invasion of (Russian President Vladimir ) Putin ”.
The Pentagon, in an anticipated statement of Hegesh's participation in the meeting, said that in addition to emphasizing Trump's impulse for a diplomatic resolution of the war, the secretary “will also highlight the need for greater European leadership in security assistance to Ukraine “.
After the meetings in Brussels, Hegseth plans to travel to Poland to meet with the leaders there and visit the US troops.
It should be noted that the United States Secretary of Defense said that it will not attend the Annual Security Conference of Munich in Germany, which self -domic “The world leader to discuss international security policy”, which begins on Friday.
“We are not going to the Munich Security Conference,” Hegseth told defense officials and troops at a public meeting last Friday in the Pentagon.
“Instead, we go to Poland to see the troops there and we go to Germany to see Euchom and Africom,” he said. “I prefer to talk to the troops than to go to cocktails. That is my job. ”
Instead, the United States will be represented in Munich by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.