U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will send his deputy to a meeting of NATO defense ministers next month.

Axar.az informs, citing Politico, NATO’s 32 defense chiefs will gather Feb. 12 for the first ministerial-level meeting since U.S. President Donald Trump brought the alliance to the brink of implosion by repeatedly suggesting he could seize Greenland from Denmark by force.

But Hegseth, who prompted outrage at the same meeting last year by delivering a blistering attack on Europeans for not spending enough on their defense, is not expected to participate, said the two officials, both of whom were granted anonymity to speak freely.

Instead, Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary for defense policy, is set to attend in his place, the diplomat and official said, a decision that is still subject to change. Colby is the third-highest-ranking civilian defense official at the Pentagon and a close ally of U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

Colby, nicknamed “Bridge,” is seen as a hardliner on Europe inside the Pentagon and is a staunch supporter of an isolationist U.S. foreign policy that advocates a less active American role — especially militarily — worldwide. He is also responsible for drafting plans on an expected drawdown of U.S. troops from Europe, which has faced repeated delays.