Pentagon Ends Leadership Of Ukraine Aid Group As Us Distances From Europe

The Pentagon is giving up leadership of a U.S.-led NATO command in Germany that coordinates military aid to Ukraine, the latest sign of a broader American withdrawal from its closest allies.

Another NATO member will eventually take over running the Security Assistance Group, according to a U.S official and three people familiar with the plan, which has played a central role in equipping and training Ukrainian troops since the full-scale Russian invasion began. But the removal of U.S. leadership from a pivotal program on the continent reinforces the extent to which America is distancing itself from European partners.

The move will mean the U.S. no longer helps shape what Ukraine’s future military will look like. It follows a swath of changes the Trump administration has made to the decades-old alliance. The Pentagon has reduced the number of American officers running commands in Europe and canceled some rotations. Officials are reassessing troops stationed on the continent and warning countries they won’t receive assistance unless their defense spending increases.

“A European or Canadian officer taking command … would be yet another example of allies taking on greater responsibility,” said a NATO official, who like others, was granted anonymity to discuss the unannounced plan.

The transition of leadership will take up to a year, the people said, but insisted it won’t interrupt the work done with Ukraine. While NATO will lead the program, the U.S. European Command will stay involved through an American deputy.

“Support for Ukraine remains a top priority,” said the NATO official.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

The Security Assistance Group, based in Wiesbaden, Germany, serves a unique role. It both coordinates the movement of military equipment into Ukraine and oversees training and logistics support for Ukraine’s military.

The shift follows an increasingly familiar pattern of the U.S. turning NATO commands over to European nations.

The Trump administration announced in February that it would pull back some top military brass from the continent and have the U.K. take control of NATO’s Joint Command Center in Norfolk, Virginia.

Italy will assume command of the Joint Command Center in Naples.

And Germany and Poland will assume control of Joint Command in Brunssum, the Netherlands. The command, run by a German general, specializes in multinational forces.

Since those announcements, the U.S. has pulled rotational Army brigades from Romania and Poland. Trump later reversed the decision on the troops heading to Poland, but no movement has been made to restore the deployments.

Army Lt. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, who took command of SAG in mid-2024, will depart on Monday and hand off to Army Lt. Gen. Guillaume Beaurpere, who will wind down the American effort.

The unit was initially established at the NATO Washington Summit in July 2024, and it was always the intent that Europe would take over the leadership role.

But given the political moment in Washington — and Trump’s continued antipathy toward the continent and NATO — another American pullback is noteworthy.

NATO allies have been broadly supportive of the American handover of the commands, and some note that a larger role for Europe makes sense.

“For us, this step carries more advantages than disadvantages,” said a Ukrainian official. “This reduces the risks for us that could arise from political turbulence in the United States and facilitates military logistics in the interests of Ukraine.”

Still, some in Kyiv are worried that putting the command within NATO’s complex bureaucracy might slow down getting assistance to the frontlines, the official said. “No one can replace American satellite reconnaissance, target designation and logistics capabilities of U.S. heavy transport aircraft.”

But the Trump administration is pressing ahead.

Speaking to NATO defense ministers in Brussels last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. allies "must step up."

Trump “has been very clear on this point for many years,” Hegseth continued, “and over two administrations, and for too long, NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street. No more.”