LONDON and THE PENTAGON — Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared at his first assembly of the Ukraine Protection Contact Group on Wednesday to inform allies that the liberation of all Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory “is an unrealistic goal.”
“The bloodshed should cease and this battle should finish,” Hegseth stated, in one of the crucial detailed delineations of the Ukraine-Russia peace deal envisioned by President Donald Trump’s new administration.
“President Trump has been clear with the American folks — and with lots of your leaders — that stopping the combating and reaching an everlasting peace is a high precedence,” Hegseth stated on the assembly, which was led by the U.Okay., marking the primary time the group has not convened beneath U.S. management.
“He intends to finish this battle by diplomacy and bringing each Russia and Ukraine to the desk,” Hegseth stated. “We’ll solely finish this devastating battle and set up a sturdy peace by coupling allied energy with a sensible evaluation of the battlefield.”
Ukrainian servicemen experience atop a T-72 tank at an undisclosed location in Kharkiv area on Feb. 10, 2025.
Sergey Bobok/AFP through Getty Pictures
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his authorities in Kyiv have demanded full territorial liberation — whether or not by navy or diplomatic means — per the nation’s internationally-recognized 1991 borders. Amongst Ukraine’s different calls for are binding Western safety ensures, ideally within the type of full NATO membership and Article 5 safety.
Hegseth rejected such ambitions, at the very least within the close to time period.
“We wish, such as you, a sovereign and affluent Ukraine, however we should begin by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic goal,” he advised allies. “Chasing this illusionary purpose will solely delay the battle and trigger extra struggling.”
“America doesn’t imagine that NATO membership for Ukraine is a sensible end result of a negotiated settlement,” Hegseth continued. “As a substitute, any safety assure have to be backed by succesful European and non-European troops.”
“If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any level, they need to be deployed as a part of a non-NATO mission they usually shouldn’t be coated beneath Article 5,” he added. “There additionally have to be strong worldwide oversight of the road of contact.”
“To be clear, as a part of any safety assure, there is not going to be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine,” Hegseth stated.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to finish the battle by forcing each Moscow and Kyiv again to the negotiating desk after almost three years of full-scale battle.
Hegseth prompt that Trump’s home power insurance policies would assist stress the Kremlin. “Decrease power costs coupled with more practical enforcement of power sanctions will assist deliver Russia to the desk,” he stated.
Hegseth delivered a broader warning to European allies of a lighter U.S. footprint on the continent. They, he stated, might want to “present the overwhelming share of future deadly and non-lethal help to Ukraine.”
He stated the “stark strategic realities” of competitors with China within the Indo-Pacific and the U.S. concentrate on securing its home borders “forestall the USA of America from being primarily centered on the safety of Europe.”
On this handout {photograph} taken and launched by the Ministry of Protection of Ukraine on Feb. 12, 2025, Ukraine’s Protection Minister Rustem Umerov (L) and US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth (R) pose for a photograph previous to their talks throughout the Ukraine Protection Contact Group assembly in Brussels.
Ministry of Protection of Ukraine/AFP through Getty Pictures
Hegseth known as on allies to donate extra ammunition and gear to Ukraine, increase their industrial bases and clarify to residents that the Russian risk necessitates “spending extra on protection and investing strategically.”
That can embody growing protection spending past the two% of GDP goal agreed by allies in 2014. The brink — which many NATO allies have nonetheless not achieved — “just isn’t sufficient,” Hegseth stated.
“President Trump has known as for five% and I agree,” he added. “Growing your dedication to your personal safety is a down cost for the long run.”
The protection secretary warned that whereas the U.S. “stays dedicated to the NATO alliance and to partnership with Europe,” America “will not tolerate an imbalanced relationship which inspires dependency.”
“Fairly, our relationship will prioritize empowering Europe to personal accountability for its personal safety,” he added. “Honesty might be our coverage going ahead.”
In response to Hegseth’s remarks, British Protection Secretary John Healey stated, “We hear you.”
“We hear your dedication to NATO, to Article 5, to a sovereign Ukraine and to your protection partnership with Europe,” Healey stated. “We additionally hear your considerations.”
“On stepping up for Ukraine, we’re and we’ll,” Healey continued. “On stepping up for European safety, we’re and we’ll.”
“You’ve got simply spoken about peace via energy,” Healey stated. “We’re 50 nations robust right here, all decided to place an finish to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s battle, to take action collectively.”
