Instead of US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, his deputy for political affairs Elbridge Colby will go to the February meeting of NATO defense chiefs. This is reported by Politico.
The absence of the Pentagon chief at key consultations on February 12 is becoming a worrying trend for European allies.
Experts associate this decision with a radical change in Washington's priorities. Hegseth and his deputy Colby are supporters of a new defense strategy, where the main emphasis is shifting from Europe to protecting its own borders and confronting China. The United States is expected to demand that European partners take on much more responsibility for security on the continent.
This is not the first such outburst - Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously missed a similar meeting. Such a consistent absence of top US officials from Alliance events is increasing concerns in Europe and forcing allies to think more seriously about building a defense system without Washington's support.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, US President Donald Trump said that Greenland is necessary for the United States for the "Golden Dome" and NATO, he added, must pave the way to it. In addition, he noted that he is taking US military power to a new level.
Also, after a conversation with NATO head Mark Rutte, Trump made another statement about Greenland, accusing Denmark of inaction amid the "russian threat".
EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas stressed that only russia and China benefit from disagreements within NATO. She stressed that the issue distracted from the "main task" - ending the russian-Ukrainian war.
Meanwhile, the US leadership has been discussing the option of paying a one-time aid to Greenlanders as part of a campaign to get the island's population to discuss joining the US. While only 17% of Americans approve of Trump's efforts to acquire Greenland, a significant majority of Democrats and Republicans oppose the use of military force to annex the island.
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