U.S. Defense Secretary Won't Attend Key NATO Meeting

• 30.01.2026, 9:32

This is the second time.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will not attend an important meeting of NATO defense ministers on Feb. 12, raising further questions about Washington's commitment to the alliance.

As Politico reported, citing sources in the United States and Europe, Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for defense policy, is expected to attend the meeting in Hegseth's place. Colby is the third-ranking civilian official in the Pentagon's Defense Department and a close associate of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance.

He is considered a hardliner on Europe at the Pentagon and a staunch supporter of an isolationist U.S. foreign policy that advocates a less active role for America - especially militarily - around the world. He is also responsible for developing plans for the expected withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe, which has been repeatedly postponed.

Colby was also responsible for drafting a new U.S. defense strategy released last week that downgraded Europe and said Washington would instead "prioritize" defending U.S. territory and China.

This is not the first time Hegseth has missed a NATO meeting. But it is the second time in a row that a senior U.S. official has skipped a high-level meeting.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also sent his deputy to a NATO foreign ministers' meeting last month.

Oana Lungescu, a former NATO spokeswoman, said the move "risks sending another signal that the United States is not listening to the concerns of its allies as carefully as it should."

There is a silver lining, however, she believes: "Elbridge Colby ... is best placed to explain the intentions and implications of [the new U.S. defense strategy] and to listen to allies' views."