While US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to travel to Ukraine this week to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, the position of Donald J. Trump’s administration has already started to become much clearer, with the speech by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Brussels to the Ukraine defense contact group.
Hegseth made it clear that a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders was unrealistic, and also that the Trump administration does not see NATO membership for Kiev as a viable outcome after the war.
Reuters reported:
“Speaking at a meeting of Ukraine’s military allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Hegseth delivered the clearest and bluntest public statement so far on the new U.S. administration’s approach to the nearly three-year-old war.
‘We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective’, Hegseth told the meeting of Ukrainian officials and more than 40 allies. ‘Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering’, he added.”
“He also told Washington’s NATO allies that they would have to step up and assume greater responsibility for Europe’s security. He said ‘stark strategic realities’, such U.S. border security issues and threats posed by China, prevented the U.S. from being ‘primarily focused on the security of Europe’.”
Kiev will have to abandon many of its key war aims, because the Trump administration will not support the unrealistic goals of regaining lost territory and securing a membership on the NATO military alliance.
Hegseth also stated U.S. troops would not be deployed to Ukraine as part of European-led security guarantees.
Watch: full speech by Secretary Hegseth to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, in Belgium
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told allies at NATO headquarters Wednesday that ending the war in Ukraine is President Trump’s top priority. Hegseth, speaking to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Belgium saying:
“President Trump has been clear with the American people –… pic.twitter.com/OVBr0lZDTa
— Karli Bonne’ (@KarluskaP) February 12, 2025
“This is my first Ukraine defense contact group and I’m honored to join all of you today. And I appreciate the opportunity to share President Trump’s approach to the war in Ukraine.
We are at, as you said, Mr. Secretary, a critical moment. As the war approaches its third anniversary, our message is clear. The bloodshed must stop and this war must end.
President Trump has been clear with the American people and with many of your leaders that stopping the fighting and reaching an enduring peace is a top priority. He intends to end this war by diplomacy and bringing both Russia and Ukraine to the table. And the US Department of Defense will help achieve this goal.
We will only end this devastating war and establish a durable peace by coupling allied strength with a realistic assessment of the battlefield. We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.
Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering. A durable peace for Ukraine must include robust security guarantees to ensure that the war will not begin again. Again, this must not be Minsk 3.0. That said, the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.
Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops. If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission, and they should not be covered under Article 5. There also must be robust international oversight of the line of contact. To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine.
To further enable effective diplomacy and drive down energy prices that fund the Russian war machine, President Trump is unleashing American energy production and encouraging other nations to do the same.
Lower energy prices, coupled with more effective enforcement of energy sanctions, will help bring Russia to the table. Safeguarding European security must be an imperative for European members of NATO.
As part of this, Europe must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine.
Members of this contact group must meet the moment. This means donating more ammunition and equipment, leveraging comparative advantages, expanding your defense industrial base, and importantly, leveling with your citizens about the threat facing Europe.
Part of this is speaking frankly with your people about how this threat can only be met by spending more on defense. 2% is not enough. President Trump has called for 5%, and I agree.
Increasing your commitment to your own security is a down payment for the future. A down payment, as you said, Mr. Secretary, of peace through strength. We’re also here today to directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe.
The United States faces consequential threats to our homeland. We must and we are focusing on security of our own borders. We also face a peer competitor in the communist Chinese with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific.
The US is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific, recognizing the reality of scarcity and making the resourcing trade-offs to ensure deterrence does not fail. Deterrence cannot fail for all of our sakes. As the United States prioritizes its attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front.
Together, we can establish a division of labor that maximizes our comparative advantages in Europe and Pacific, respectively. In my first weeks as Secretary of Defense, under President Trump’s leadership, we’ve seen promising signs that Europe sees this threat, understands what needs to be done, and is stepping up to the task. For example, Sweden recently announced its largest ever assistance package.
We applaud them for committing 1.2 billion in ammunition and other needed material. Poland is spending 5% of GDP on defense already, which is a model for the continent. And 14 other countries are co-leading capability coalitions.
These groups are doing great work to coordinate Europe’s contributions of legal assistance across eight key capability areas. These are first steps. More must still be done.
We ask each of your countries to step up on fulfilling the commitments that you have made. And we challenge your countries and your citizens to double down and recommit yourselves not only to Ukraine’s immediate security needs, but to Europe’s long-term defense and deterrence goals. Our transatlantic alliance has endured for decades.”
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