Pentagon chief to miss Ramstein meeting for first time
For the first time in the three years since the establishment of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein Format, the US secretary of defense will not take part in its meeting.
Source: Associated Press, citing a US official
Details: For the first time since the US created the international group to coordinate military assistance to Ukraine three years ago, the Pentagon chief will not be present at a meeting of over 50 other defence leaders on Wednesday 4 June.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who returned from a national security conference in Singapore on Sunday, will only arrive in Brussels on Wednesday evening, after the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting has concluded.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AP that Hegseth would not participate by video either.
Quote from АР: "It is the latest in a series of steps that the US has taken to distance itself from the Ukraine war effort.
And it comes on the heels of French President Emmanuel Macron's warning at the security conference last weekend that the US and others risk a dangerous double standard if their concentration on a potential conflict with China is done at the cost of abandoning Ukraine."
Background:
Hegseth's predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the contact group after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Since then, more than 50 member countries have jointly provided Ukraine with around US$126 billion in military assistance, including over US$66.5 billion from the US.
Under Austin's leadership, the US chaired the group, while he, along with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the monthly meetings, held both in person and via video.
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Iranians disconnected from world Iranians have been intermittently cut off from the world since the start of Israel's air war on its military and nuclear sites more than a week ago, now joined by the United States. Iran's government has imposed a near countrywide internet blackout in recent days, saying it was necessary to prevent Israeli cyberattacks and for unspecified security reasons, though some residents have reported the shutdown's efficacy has varied and sometimes they were able to get online. There have also been reported disruptions to cellphone text messages in Iran. On Sunday, NetBlocks, an organization that monitors global Internet access, reported that connectivity in Iran "again collapsed" in the hours before the U.S. strikes. NetBlocks also reported that Trump's Truth Social platform was "experiencing international outages for many users," a scenario it said was not related to "country-level Internet disruptions or filtering." UN watchdog to hold emergency meeting The United Nations' nuclear watchdog will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna on Monday following the U.S. attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. The International Atomic Energy Agency, created in 1957 amid growing concern over nuclear weapons, called for an end to "hostilities" so that it can continue inspections in Iran. "In view of the increasingly serious situation in terms of nuclear safety and security, the Board of Governors will meet in an extraordinary session tomorrow, which I will address,' Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. The sites targeted by the U.S. strikes contained nuclear material in the form of uranium enriched to different levels, the IAEA said, according to its most recent information before Israel's strikes on Iran on June 13. The material "may cause radioactive and chemical contamination within the facilities that were hit," the IAEA said. 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'Perilous hour': World reacts after US bombs Iranian nuclear sites Russia, China condemn US attacks on Iran Russia and China on Sunday condemned the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, the countries' foreign ministries said. "The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb attacks, whatever the arguments it may be presented with, flagrantly violates international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council," the Russian foreign ministry said in its statement. "We call for an end to aggression and for increased efforts to create conditions for returning the situation to a political and diplomatic track." Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, launching a drawn-out conflict that is ongoing over three years later. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, recently suggested that the "whole of Ukraine" belongs to his country, even though Russia only controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory. China's foreign ministry said the move violates the United Nations Charter and would worsen tensions in the Middle East. The ministry urged an end to attacks for all parties to the conflict, particularly Israel. What we know about the US strikes on Iran Trump ordered the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, effectively joining a war that Israel started on June 13 when it started bombing Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure. One of the U.S. targets was Fordow, a uranium enrichment facility hidden deep inside a remote mountain in the desert. Nuclear sites at Natanz and Isfahan were also struck. Israel said it helped the U.S. coordinate and plan the strikes. Trump said all three sites were "totally obliterated" but an independent assessment has not yet been carried out. The International Atomic Energy Agency − the United Nation's nuclear watchdog − released a statement saying that so far it had not detected an increase in "off-site radiation levels," one of the feared consequences of the strikes. What will Iran do now? Iran's next move is being closely watched. The country has already ramped up its rhetoric. "Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. Ahead of the U.S. strikes, Tehran signaled that if the Pentagon were to join Israel's war U.S. military bases and Navy ships in the region could be attacked. Iran has a large arsenal of drones and ballistic missiles. It has been using these on Israel for days. It launched a fresh wave of missiles toward Israel hours after the U.S. bombing started. Iran might even opt for a diplomatic route, which Trump was encouraging prior to authorizing the U.S. attack. Contributing: Reuters
