On July 14, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth met with his German Defense counterpart, Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius. Secretary Hegseth reaffirmed the strong bilateral relationship and expressed appreciation for German leadership in securing historic commitments by NATO allies at last month's NATO Summit at The Hague to meet President Trump's call to spend 5% of GDP on defense. They discussed how to build on the momentous shift within NATO for allies to translate these commitments into action to accelerate fielding of combat-credible capabilities to meet NATO's core missions of deterrence and defense.
Secretary Hegseth and Minister Pistorius also discussed how to help set conditions for an end to the war in Ukraine on terms that support an enduring peace.
