Media: Pentagon may downgrade status of Office for Ukraine
The Pentagon is likely to downgrade the status of a political office that plays an important role in the military response to the war in Ukraine.
Defence News sources say that as part of a larger reorganisation of the Pentagon's political apparatus, the office dealing with Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia will be subordinated to a separate office dealing with Europe and NATO.
This will not stop its work and will not necessarily lead to the dismissal of its staff. However, it will lower the status of the office, which until earlier this year was one of the most important in the Pentagon.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this once relatively obscure office has helped shape US policy on the war and manage huge amounts of military aid to support the country's self-defence.
Laura Cooper, its previous head, helped convene the 50-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which has since met 27 times to collect and coordinate more than US$130 billion in security assistance to Kyiv, about half of which has come from the United States.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Defense did not confirm the potential changes or say whether any positions will be cut. Cooper resigned at the beginning of the year, and the office is now temporarily headed by a career civil servant.
The office reports to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, which does not yet have a fully confirmed director. Daniel Zimmerman's nomination to head it is pending a vote in the Senate.
Several sources emphasised that the decision is not yet final and that any changes will be part of a larger reorganisation. One former official said that it is not unusual for new heads of political departments to change positions, but many other sources see the potential changes as a sign of a general decline in the priority of Ukraine in the Pentagon under the second Trump administration.
Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's chief of political affairs, has long argued that America should reduce its military support for Ukraine and redirect resources to Asia to deter China from invading Taiwan.
US President Donald Trump said this week that he has a "red line" in his mind, crossing which would force him to back out of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
After talking with Putin, Trump said that Ukraine and Russia would immediately start ceasefire talks.
Nonetheless, sources told the Financial Times that European leaders, with whom Trump spoke after talking with Putin, were stunned by Trump's description of the results of his call.