Trump confirmed Ukraine will not join NATO.
According to US President Donald Trump, the Pentagon chief's assessment of Kyiv's position is "quite accurate."
US President Donald Trump has endorsed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's assessment that Kyiv must accept the reality that a return to the border before 2014 is not feasible, and that NATO membership for Ukraine is not on the table.
Earlier, speaking before a meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels on February 12, Hegseth described Kyiv's goal of regaining all lost territory as "unrealistic" and stressed the need for Ukraine to prepare for a negotiated peace, possibly with international military support, but without including NATO membership in any agreement.
On February 13, Hegseth rejected media accusations that the US was “betraying” Ukraine. “To say that we have given up all negotiating leverage simply because we acknowledge certain existing realities is a cheap political ploy,” he declared.
When asked whether he had asked Hegseth to tone down her statements in order to retain his "bargaining chip," Trump told reporters at the White House that he had not.
"Some people told me to do that, but I think his statements yesterday were reasonable. Maybe they're a little milder today, but I think his comments yesterday were pretty accurate," Trump asserted.
“I don’t see any way a country in Russia’s position could allow them [Ukraine] to join NATO. I don’t think that’s going to happen,” President Trump added, while blaming his predecessor Joe Biden for supporting Ukraine’s NATO membership ambitions.
Moscow has long opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO, viewing the alliance's eastward expansion as a threat to national security and considering it a key factor in the current conflict with Kyiv. The Kremlin has consistently insisted that Ukraine must maintain neutrality as part of any future peace agreement.
This is not the first time Trump has expressed understanding of Russia's position. Speaking to reporters in Florida last month, he said that Moscow's stance on NATO has long been "etched in as an unchangeable principle."
He reiterated this position after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 12 – the first official contact between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House last month.
On the same day, President Trump also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, shortly after his phone call with Putin. However, his decision to discuss a peace plan directly with the Russian leader reportedly left officials in Kyiv and Europe feeling marginalized.
The US president announced that he and Putin had agreed to begin talks aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine, and indicated that a meeting between the two leaders could take place soon.
Following the phone call, the Kremlin confirmed its readiness to participate in peace negotiations but stressed that addressing the root causes of the conflict would be paramount to any lasting agreement.
