Pentagon Chief Says NATO Membership For Ukraine Is Unrealistic
JAKARTA - United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday said the Russia-Ukraine war should end, saying Kyiv's joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the return of the border in 2014 before the invasion were unrealistic.
In remarks before a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group, the Pentagon Chief also said European forces should be the main force that secures postwar Ukraine, not involving US troops.
"The United States does not believe NATO's membership for Ukraine is a realistic result of a negotiated settlement," Defense Minister Hegseth said.
He further said any security guarantees offered to Ukraine "must be supported by capable European and non-European forces."
"To be clear, as part of any security guarantees, no US troops will be deployed to Ukraine," he stressed.
The US Defense Minister further said Ukraine's return to the border before 2014, before Russia invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine, was "unrealized goal."
The comments are considered to concern Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who this week said Europe itself could not provide meaningful security guarantees for Ukraine without the leadership of Uncle Sam's country.
"We are also here today to directly and firmly state a striking strategic reality preventing the United States from focusing primarily on European security," he said.
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Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he "agreed" with President Trump, "that we should equate security assistance to Ukraine. But to really change the direction of the conflict, we need to do more."
On the same occasion, Defense Minister Hegseth also echoed President Donald Trump's call for allies to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of their GDP, not the "not enough" 2 percent.
He also stressed that the US "has remained committed to the NATO alliance and its defense partnership with Europe. Period. But the United States will no longer tolerate unbalanced relations that encourage dependence."