US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegset said it was “unrealistic” to count that Ukraine would return to its 2014, when Russia first took control of Crimea.
Speaking at a meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine in Brussels, Hugset stated that one could only establish “lasting peace” with a “realistic assessment of the battlefield”.
The US Secretary of Defense also reduced Ukraine’s proposals that joined NATO and excluded the deployment of US troops to Ukraine under any future security agreements.
Kyiv has repeatedly called for NATO membership and in the past rejected a peaceful transaction area.
HEGSET, who was appointed Minister of Defense after Donald Trump returned to the US presidency in January, announced a meeting of more than 40 countries related to Ukraine: “We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine.
“But we must start with the recognition that the return to Ukraine by 2014 is an unreal goal.
“The pursuit of this illusory purpose will only extend the war and lead to greater suffering.”
In March 2014, Russia annexed the Black Sea Peninsula from Ukraine, and then supported pro -Russian separatists in an armed uprising against Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine.
Currently, Moscow controls the fifth part of Ukraine, mainly in the east and south.
HEGSET said any strong peace should include “reliable security guarantees to ensure that the war would not start again.”
However, he said that “the United States does not believe that NATO membership in Ukraine is a realistic result of the negotiation agreement.”
Instead, security guarantees must be backed up by “capable European and non -European troops”.
“If these troops are placed as peacekeepers in Ukraine at any time, they must be deployed within the NATO mission, and they should not be considered according to Article 5,” he said, citing the mutual defense of the Alliance .
Trump has consistently stated that his priority is the end of the war, which began with a full -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He was also critical of military assistance for Kiev.
