US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Nato membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and in sweeping remarks suggested that the way forward for Kyiv was for the country to abandon hopes of a return to its pre-2014 borders and prepare for a negotiated settlement with Russia – one that should be backed up with an international force of troops.
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“We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,” Hegseth told the meeting of more than 40 countries allied to Ukraine.
“Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,” he added.
Hegseth made the comments on Wednesday during the first trip to Nato and the Ukraine Defence Contact Group by a member of the new Trump administration. Allies have been waiting to hear how much continued military and financial support Washington intends to provide to Ukraine’s government.
What they heard was that US President Donald Trump is intent on getting Europe to assume most of the financial and military responsibilities for the defence of Ukraine – to include a possible peacekeeping force that would not include US troops – and that Hegseth said should not have Article Five protections if those troops end up in contact with Russian forces.
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Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and then backed pro-Russian separatists in an armed insurgency against Kyiv’s forces in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.