New U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is headed to Europe, his first international trip since taking office last month.
Hegseth departed from Joint Base Andrews, just outside of Washington, early Monday, for stops in Germany, Belgium and Poland.
In Germany, the defense secretary is scheduled to visit the headquarters for U.S. European Command, and U.S. Africa Command, getting updates on developments in both regions.
From Germany, Hegseth will travel to Brussels for the NATO Defense Ministerial and a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Wednesday and Thursday.
U.S. defense officials say Hegseth is expected to press U.S. allies in Europe to increase their defense spending and take more of a leadership role for challenges facing Europe.
He is also expected to echo U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for a diplomatic end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, which is about to enter its third year.
The meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — a group of almost 50 countries who have pledged to support Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia — is the first to take place during the new Trump administration and will be the first led by a country other than the U.S.
This week’s meeting, the 26th, will be led by Britain.
Britain’s Defense Ministry, in a statement Thursday said the meeting will focus on “priorities for Ukraine as the international community continues to work together to support Ukraine in its fight against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion.”
The Pentagon, in a statement previewing Hegseth’s participation in the meeting, said in addition to emphasizing Trump’s push for a diplomatic resolution to the war, the secretary, “will also highlight the need for increased European leadership on security assistance to Ukraine.”
Following the meetings in Brussels, Hegseth is scheduled to travel to Poland to meet with leaders there and visit with U.S. troops.
Of note, the U.S. defense secretary said he is skipping the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany, which bills itself as “the world’s leading forum for debating international security policy,” which gets underway Friday.
“We’re not going to the Munich Security Conference,” Hegseth told defense officials and troops at a town hall meeting last Friday at the Pentagon.
“We’re instead going to Poland to see the troops out there and we’re going to Germany to see EUCOM and AFRICOM,” he said. “I would much rather talk to troops than go to cocktail parties. That’s my job.”
Instead, the U.S. is set to be represented in Munich by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
