U.S. defense secretary says Ukraine returning to pre-2014 borders is ‘unrealistic’
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says it is “unrealistic” to expect Russia to return territory seized from Ukraine in 2014 back to Kiev.
IRNA – U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says it is “unrealistic” to expect Russia to return territory seized from Ukraine in 2014 back to Kiev.
Speaking at a defense summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday, Hegseth said the assessment of the war between Ukraine and Russia had to be realistic.
Hegseth said the war “must end” and that a “durable peace” was possible with a “realistic assessment of the battlefield.”
The American defense secretary also ruled out Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the deployment of U.S. troops to the European country to enforce a potential peace agreement.
“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,” he said, in an apparent reference to the U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy of securing America’s borders and shifting of focus to China.
