Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has mentioned it’s “unrealistic” to count on Ukraine to return to its pre-2014 borders, when Russia first took management of Crimea.
Talking at a gathering of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels, Hegseth mentioned it might solely be potential to determine a “sturdy peace” with a “life like evaluation of the battlefield”.
The US defence secretary additionally downplayed solutions of Ukraine becoming a member of Nato and dominated out deploying US troops to Ukraine beneath any future safety preparations.
Kyiv has repeatedly known as for Nato membership and has previously rejected ceding territory as a part of a peace deal.
Hegseth, who was appointed defence secretary after Donald Trump returned to the US presidency in January, advised the assembly of greater than 40 nations allied to Ukraine: “We would like, such as you, a sovereign and affluent Ukraine.
“However we should begin by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic goal.
“Chasing this illusionary aim will solely delay the battle and trigger extra struggling.”
Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after which backed pro-Russian separatists in an armed insurgency towards Kyiv’s forces in jap Ukraine.
Moscow at present controls round a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, primarily within the east and south.
Hegseth mentioned any sturdy peace should embrace “sturdy safety ensures to make sure that the battle won’t start once more”.
Nevertheless, he mentioned “america doesn’t consider that Nato membership for Ukraine is a sensible consequence of a negotiated settlement”.
As an alternative, safety ensures ought 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 and so they shouldn’t be lined beneath Article 5,” he mentioned, referring to the alliance’s mutual defence clause.
Trump has persistently mentioned his precedence is to finish the battle, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He has additionally been important of US spending on navy support for Kyiv.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned he was prepared to barter a peace take care of Russia however needed his nation to take action from a “place of energy”.
Talking to the Guardian, Zelensky mentioned if Trump was in a position to get Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating desk, the Ukrainian president deliberate to supply Russia a straight territory trade, giving up land Kyiv has held in Russia’s Kursk area for the reason that launch of a shock offensive six months in the past.
“We’ll swap one territory for one more,” he mentioned, however added that he didn’t know which a part of Russian-occupied land Ukraine would ask for in return.
“I do not know, we are going to see. However all our territories are essential, there isn’t a precedence,” he mentioned.
He additionally mentioned he would supply US corporations profitable contracts to rebuild Ukraine, in an obvious try and get Trump onside.