F.P. Report
WASHINGTON: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will travel to Brussels, Belgium, next week to participate in the NATO Defense Ministerial, Oct. 12-13 at NATO Headquarters.
This will be the first Defense Ministerial since the NATO Madrid Summit in June 2022 and the first Ministerial that Finland and Sweden will join as Invitees. Ministers will discuss implementation of decisions endorsed at Madrid and provide guidance for future planning efforts.
While in Brussels, Secretary Austin will be joined by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley to conduct an in-person meeting October 12th of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. This will be the sixth meeting of the UDCG and the fourth in-person session since the international group was formed in April. They will join ministers of defense and chiefs of defense from nearly 50 nations from around the world to discuss Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, and the continued close coordination to provide the Ukrainian people with the means necessary to defend their sovereign territory.
