US Secretary of Defense Pitt Hugset said a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia should include security guarantees for Ukraine, but they “should not be provided with NATO membership, but instead must be backed up by capable European and non -European troops.”
Head of Defense spoke long before the president said Trump In a report on the social media he agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to start negotiating the war in Ukraine during a telephone call with the Russian leader on Wednesday. He said he would call on the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky at once “to tell him the conversation.”
In the statement, speaking ahead of a closed meeting with the Ukrainian defense contact group to discuss further assistance for Ukraine, Hugset called Ukraine's goal to return to its borders before 2014, as Russian forces first broke and began to preserve the land, joining the Crimean Peninsula, When he joined the Crimean Peninsula, “unrealistic goal”.
The US Defense leader said “as part of any security guarantee, US troops will not be deployed to Ukraine.”
In addition, he stated that any peacekeeping troops located in Ukraine should not be part of the NATO mission, as well as covered by Article 5, the mutual defense of the Alliance.
About 50 countries make a contact group of Ukraine, which has supported Ukraine since Russia has launched a complete invasion of the country in February 2022.
HEGSET said that, moving forward, Europe should “provide a prevailing share of the deadly and non -lethal assistance to Ukraine,” and calls on those present at the Brussels summit, talk to governments to increase their defense when the US is moving its attention elsewhere else .
HEGSET says we will not be a “main security guarantor in Europe”
“I am also here today to expressly and clearly express that bright strategic realities are hindering the US to be a major security guarantor in Europe,” said Jegets, emphasizing that the United States will focus on its own security and China security.
“The US preferred deterrent with China in the Pacific, acknowledging the reality of the deficit and forcing resources to ensure that the restraint will not fail. Because the United States moves their attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front, from the front, from the front The front, from the front, from the front, from the front, from the front, from the front, should lead from the front, from the front, from the front, should lead.
Ukraine's contact group has provided more than $ 126 billion in military assistance and weapons in total, the Associated Press reports. The United States has provided $ 66.5 billion and led the group since its creation. It is unclear who the chairman will be the next meeting.
“We hear you,” said the United Kingdom Defense Minister John Hill in response to Hegset's comments.
Mr. Trump promised to soon end the war in Ukraine when he took office earlier this year, and he often complained that it would be too expensive for US taxpayers.
In his statements, Hegset said that the US and Europe “can set a division of labor that maximizes our comparative benefits in Europe and the Pacific respectively” Property on ordinary safety on this continent. “
“The United States remains committed to the NATO alliance and partnership with Europe,” said Gegset. “But the United States will no longer tolerate an unbalanced relationship that stimulates addiction. Our relations will prefer Europe's capabilities for its own security.”
He contributed to this report.