European countries need to invest now in defence because it is not possible to assume that the United States' presence on the continent will last forever, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday during a visit to Warsaw.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told America's NATO allies that they cannot assume that the U.S. military presence in Europe "will last forever." "The American troop levels on the continent are important," Hegseth said during a news conference Friday in Warsaw with his Polish counterpart, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Politico reported.

Speaking at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group—the American-led consortium of 57 countries and the European Union cooperating to provide the Ukrainian military with weaponry and logistics support—new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth basically told the Europeans,

NATO members in Europe should bear more of the costs of collective defense, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday, echoing President Donald Trump’s call for allies to spend 5% of their GDP on defense while sidestepping suggestions that the US should hit the same target.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday warned NATO allies in Europe against assuming that the American troop presence on the continent would "last forever", as he urged them to spend more on defence.