Pete Hegseth to skip Ukraine military aid meet amid Trump's silence on drone attacks: Will US ditch Russia-Ukraine peace talks?

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth will not attend the defence leaders meeting on military aid to Ukraine. This is the first time since the US created an international group to coordinate military aid to Ukraine three years ago, that America’s Pentagon chief will not be in attendance when more than 50 other defence leaders meet on Wednesday.

News agency AP also reported that Hegseth will not attend the meeting via video conferencing. Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the group after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since then, more than 50 member nations have collectively provided Ukraine with some $126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including over $66.5 billion from the US, as per AP.

Trump's silence

This comes amid Ukraine's surprise drone attacks on Russia amid US-brokered peace talks. US President Donald Trump has not spoken about the Ukrainian attacks yet. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said that President Trump was not informed in advance about Ukraine's drone attacks.

Meanwhile, the second round of US-mediated peace talks in Istanbul was wrapped on Monday with both sides agreeing to swap more prisoners of war. But, there was no sign of both sides reaching a ceasefire deal. The first round of the talks was held on May 16, when both sides agreed on the biggest prisoner swap of the war. Later on Monday, the White House said that Trump is open to meeting leaders of both sides in Turkey.

Despite America's attempts to end the war as soon as possible, Ukraine and its allies have accused Russia of delaying talks.

Ukrainian attack

On Sunday, Ukraine launched 117 drones in an operation code-named "Spider's Web" to attack Russian nuclear-capable long-range bomber planes at airfields in Siberia and the far north of the country. On Tuesday, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said it targeted the Crimea bridge with underwater explosives. The SBU said its director, Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, personally supervised the operation and coordinated its planning.

US to pull out of peace talks?

Trump's silence on escalating drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine has got the world talking. On May 19, Putin and Trump held a two-hour telephonic conversation and both leaders expressed optimism about the peace talks. Putin said he found the conversation with Trump “very informative, very open and very useful”, according to Russian media. Trump also wrote on Truth Social that the ceasefire talks could soon begin, going as far as to say that Russia could be great trading partner once peace is established in the region.

However, things seemed to have derailed after that. On May 26, following massive drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, Trump called Putin "absolutely crazy." In response, the Kremlin said Trump was showing signs of "emotional overload".

On May 28, Trump issued a two-week deadline for Putin and said that he would find out if Russia wants to end the war. Trump said that he isn't sure if Putin wants to end the war and if “he's tapping America along.” He warned that he would deal with Putin “differently” if he was tapping the US.

"I'll let you know in about two weeks... we're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along — and if he is, we'll respond a little bit differently," Trump said.

The US president also opined that Putin is playing with fire and expressed his disappointment over Russian strike in Ukraine amid ongoing peace talks. “Putin is playing with fire…I am disappointed at what happened a couple of nights ago - where people were killed - in the middle of what you would call a negotiation,” Trump said.

Earlier in April, Trump criticised Zelensky for not accepting a peace deal with Russia, claiming an agreement was near. He also accused Zelensky of prolonging the conflict by refusing to cede Crimea, and said he must sign a deal or lose his country.

In April, Trump had said that the US may "take a pass" on its efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine if either side makes negotiations too difficult.

Meanwhile, France and other NATO nations expressed their worries after the US said it is considering withdrawing troops from Europe to shift them to the Indo-Pacific. French President Emmanuel Macron said that abandoning Ukraine would eventually erode US credibility in deterring any potential conflict with China over Taiwan.