U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that Ukraine should abandon its push to return to its 2014 borders and prepare for a negotiated solution with Russia. He made the comments in Brussels, where he is attending his first NATO meeting. Hegseth is the first senior official of the new U.S. administration to attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Alliance as his European counterparts wait anxiously to see whether Washington will continue to support Ukraine.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States wants “Ukraine to be a prosperous and sovereign country.” However, he added that returning Ukraine to its 2014 borders is unrealistic.
"Pursuing this unrealistic goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering. A lasting peace for Ukraine must include strong security guarantees to ensure that the war does not start again," Secretary Hegseth said at the NATO meeting, adding that Washington sees another demand as unrealistic for Ukraine.
“The United States does not believe that Ukraine’s membership in NATO would be a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. Instead, any security guarantees for Ukraine should be provided by European and non-European troops. If there are to be peacekeeping troops, they should be deployed within a non-NATO mission and should not be treated under NATO’s Article 5,” says Mr. Hegseth.
Article five of the NATO treaty states that an attack on one NATO member state constitutes an attack on the entire alliance.
Secretary Hegseth also clarified that the United States will not send troops to Ukraine.
Speaking about relations with European allies, Secretary Hegseth said that “the United States will no longer tolerate a relationship that is not balanced.” However, Mr. Hegseth's German counterpart said he is optimistic about relations with the new administration in Washington.
"I just had a 45-minute meeting with my colleague Pete Hegseth. We want to maintain our close and reliable transatlantic friendship and partnership. We discussed several issues, including NATO and Ukraine, because we both know that this is an important year for Ukraine, which has to defend itself in this terrible war. Overall, it was a friendly meeting where we had an open dialogue," said German Minister Pistorius.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to end the war quickly. He has said the war is costing American taxpayers dearly and has urged European countries to increase defense spending. He has also suggested that Ukraine should pay for Washington's support by offering its rare minerals.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said today (Wednesday) that he agrees with President Trump that responsibility should be shared between Washington and European allies when it comes to aid to Ukraine.
"I agree with President Trump that we need to balance security assistance to Ukraine. But to change the trajectory of the war we need to do more. The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger they will be in the negotiations," Mr. Rutte says.
NATO member states agreed last year to provide $40 billion in aid to Ukraine. However, they sent over $50 billion, with more than half of that amount shared by European allies and Canada./ VOA (A2 Televizion)
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