and impose an unprecedented cost for russia on their illegal invasion. the secretary will be accompanies the president to poland where the president of course is scheduled to also meet with his counterpart and other senior polish leaders. finally, the deputy secretary of defense, dr. hicks met today with the german state secretary for the federal ministry of defense, her counterpart, mr. benedict zimmer. they reaffirmed the u.s.-german bilateral relationship. the secretary thanked germany to provide lethal and nonlethal aid for ukraine and the support of the eastern flank. congratulation germany s to increase spending to 2% meeting nato s obligations and improving