BRUSSELS, Jan 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is not expected to attend a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels next month, two sources said, the second time in a row a Trump administration official has skipped a gathering of the military alliance.

Sebastian Halmagean, a gunner from Hamilton, Ontario, died in Latvia.

The operation, Steadfast Dart, comes as President Trump has been accused of undermining the alliance and will be watched closely to see how well the allies manage without their most important partner.

The flags were outside the U.S. embassy in Denmark to honor Danish soldiers.

Trump's NATO challenges push European defense spending pledges, but analysts say continent still lacks command experience to operate independently.

Mark Rutte, the secretary general of the alliance, told members of the European Parliament that President Trump was “doing a lot of good stuff.”

European veterans, families of the fallen, and politicians are voicing outrage over Trump's claim NATO allies stayed behind the front lines in Afghanistan.

U.S. president’s swipe at NATO troops in Afghanistan mark latest challenge to alliance.

If anyone thinks here ... that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can’t,” Mark Rutte told E.U. lawmakers in Brussels.

Drone incursions at the airports of NATO nations are making new technology and partnerships a pressing demand, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced.

Objects thought to be balloons entered Poland from Belarus overnight Friday, according to Warsaw.