NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy

NATO allies shrugged off Pete Hegseth’s absence from the Feb. 12 defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels — the second consecutive U.S. minister no‑show after Senator Marco Rubio missed the December foreign ministers’ session — with leaders downplaying its significance while urging Europe and Canada to shoulder more of the conventional defense burden. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group, once chaired by the Pentagon under Biden, is now led by the U.K. and Germany as U.S. weapons and funding for Ukraine have largely dried up under President Trump.