Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and Senior Advisor Sean Parnell provided the following readout:
On April 23, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke with his German counterpart, Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius on shared priorities including ongoing efforts toward a durable peace in Ukraine. Secretary Hegseth conveyed the administration's intent for European allies to assume primary responsibility for Europe's conventional defenses. The Secretary commended Germany on recent actions to lift its debt brake while urging the Minister to actualize defense spending increases and accelerate development of credible capabilities.