Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth met with his German Defence counterpart, Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius on July 14 and reaffirmed the strong relations between the two NATO allies.

Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth met with his German Defence counterpart, Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius on July 14 and reaffirmed the strong relations between the two NATO allies.

In his welcoming remarks to Minister Pistorius, Secretary Hegseth noted, "I think we've seen incredible progress inside NATO and with Germany taking the leap on that upfront commitment to your spending, commitment to European leadership."

“I want to commend you and thank you for that — to include the contributions and the partnership that we'll continue to undertake,” he said.

Secretary Hegseth told the German Minister that the US is grateful for the support the German government gives to American troops stationed in Germany. "Thank you for many years of partnership and friendship in that regard," he said.

Prior to his meeting with Minister Pistorius, Secretary Hegseth joined President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, other US officials and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House, to discuss how the U.S. plans to support Ukraine going forward.

That plan involves the U.S. providing weapons to Ukraine, which NATO will pay for. In the interim, President Trump said, Germany has agreed to provide some of its own missiles to Ukraine, which NATO will eventually replace.

Germany, along with nearly every other NATO partner, has also recently committed to spending 5 percent of its gross domestic product on its defence, which greatly enhances NATO. And Secretary General Rutte added that Germany has stepped up "massively" to help keep Ukraine strong and to increase defence industrial production.

"I look forward to further partnership," Secretary Hegseth told his German counterpart, noting Germany's commitment to European security by putting a brigade in Lithuania, and its commitment to buy fifth generation fighter jets from the U.S. In 2022, Germany agreed to buy 35 F-35 aircraft.
Through a long-standing partnership, Minister Pistorius said, the U.S. and Germany have not only strengthened their own security, but also the security of other partners.

"Germany and the United States share a long-standing, deep and trusted partnership — a partnership that strengthens not only our two nations, but also benefits the entire transatlantic alliance," he said.

The German minister said it's understood that Germany would reach 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product in core defence spending by 2029.
The United States is fully committed to working even more closely with Germany in defence of both nations, Europe and the free world. [VOA/VS]