Hegseth says Europe should pay for war in Ukraine

Military assistance to Ukraine should be financed primarily by European countries, according to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who outlined Washington’s current position during testimony before the United States Senate Armed Services Committee.

“If it is that important to Europe [...], then European countries should pay for it and that is exactly what the chart says,” he said.

Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that, despite heavy ammunition expenditure during combat operations against Iran, the Pentagon still maintains sufficient weapons stockpiles.

Hegseth said that US ammunition stocks are in really good shape.

According to US media reports, this statement contradicts internal US military assessments, which suggest that the war with Iran has significantly depleted global US ammunition reserves and forced the Pentagon to urgently transfer missiles and other equipment to the Middle East from commands in Asia and Europe.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) argues that the fighting has exhausted a substantial portion of US stocks of critical munitions.