BRUSSELS (AP) -- Senior officials from almost 50 nations gathered Wednesday to drum up more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, with the Pentagon's chief absent for the first time since the group organizing the military aid was set up three years ago.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at NATO headquarters is going to be chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would only arrive in Brussels after it's over. He will participate in a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Thursday.

His absence is the latest in a series of steps that Washington has taken to distance itself from Ukraine's efforts to repel Russia's full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.

More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to U.N. estimates, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

Before Wednesday's meeting, the U.K. said that it plans a tenfold increase in drone production to help Ukraine. Drones have become a decisive factor in the war, now in its fourth year.

U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said that British companies are using lessons learned from the battlefield "to develop advanced new drones to help protect Ukraine's civilians and also strengthen our own national security."

Hegseth's predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the group after Russia launched all-out war on Ukraine in 2022. Since then, Ukraine's backers have collectively provided around $126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including more than $66.5 billion from the U.S.

The United States hasn't chaired a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group since the Trump administration took office in January.

European NATO allies are concerned that the U.S. might withdraw troops from Europe to focus on the Indo-Pacific. French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that abandoning Ukraine would erode U.S. credibility in deterring any conflict with China over Taiwan.

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