Officials meet to drum up arms and ammunition for Ukraine, Hegseth not in attendance [Video]

Senior officials from almost 50 countries gathered Wednesday to drum up more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, with the Pentagon’s chief absent for the first time since the group organizing the military aid was set up three years ago.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at NATO headquarters is going to be chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany. U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth would only arrive in Brussels after it’s over. He will participate in a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Thursday.

His absence is the latest in a series of steps that Washington has taken to distance itself from Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.

More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to UN estimates, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

Before Wednesday’s meeting, the U.K. said that it plans a tenfold increase in drone production to help Ukraine. Drones have …