US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegeth claims that returning to the borders of Ukraine before 2014 is unreal and the Trump administration does not see NATO members for Kiev as part of the solution to the war caused by Russia's invasion.
HegeSeth, at a meeting with the participation of NATO members in Brussels, said that the White House does not perceive NATO membership for Ukraine as a “realistic result of a negotiated settlement” to end the war.
HegeSeth said that the US remains committed “full stop” NATO and defense partnership with Europe. But Ukraine's security guarantees should be supported by “talented European and non -European troops,” said the head of the Pentagon.
“If these soldiers are placed as peaceful in Ukraine at any time, they should be placed as part of the non-nato mission and should not be covered by art. 5, “he said, referring to the Alliance's defense clause.
Shortly afterwards, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday in social media that “he simply had a long and highly productive conversation” with Russian President Vladimir Putin to a wide range of topics, including war, in the Middle East and artificial intelligence. In the first month, Trump was cautious among reporters or talked to Putin.
Russian press agencies confirmed the conversation and said that Putin submitted an invitation to Trump to come to Moscow for talks.
Trump said that he dealt with members of his office and other officials to start conducting negotiations to obtain the end of the war.
It is not believed that Trump was still talking to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his return to the White House, although he said in his post in social media that he was planning to talk to him about Putin's conversation soon. Zelenskyy and other older Ukrainian officials will be expected to meet members of the Trump administration off the beaten track of the annual Security Conference in Munich this week to discuss the war.
“They can be a Russian one day”: Trump
Hegeth also said on Wednesday that returning to the borders of Ukraine before 2014 was unreal.
“The prosecution of this illusory goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,” he added.
In 2014, the conflict in eastern Ukraine began after the pro -Russian president was overthrown in the Revolution of Majdan Ukraine. Russia soon annexed the Black Sea Peninsula from Ukraine, and then supported pro -Russian separatists in the armed rebellion against the Ukrainian forces in the eastern region of Donbas.
HegeSeth said that “sovereign and prosperous” Ukraine remains a priority, but that Washington is in the face of “harsh strategic realities”, such as the issues of borders' security and threats within the US.
In an interview with Fox News, at the beginning of this week, Trump did not seem to give a full throat support for the future sovereignty of Ukraine.
“They may conclude a contract, they may not conclude a contract. They may be a Russian one day or one day they are not Russians, “he said. Trump also said that the United States would like to access the minerals of rare lands of Ukraine in exchange for support.
On the campaign trail last year Trump headed against significant military assistance, which the administration of Joe Biden gave Ukraine since the Russian army invaded in February 2022. The sum was estimated at $ 65 billion in US.
During his first term, Trump suggested Zelenskyy in a telephone conversation that the Ukrainian leader should cooperate when trying to discredit Biden. The US assistance to Ukraine has been delayed. Democrats accused Trump for what they said that there was a quid pro quo, but Trump was then acquitted in the Senate, avoiding removal from office.
Matthew Miller, spokesman for the State Department during the Biden term, argued in social media that a public statement about NATO membership of Ukraine, Trump's administration “simply surrendered one of the main points of the lever before negotiations began.”
Russia rejects the idea of changing the earth
Meanwhile, Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia would never discuss the commercial territory, which it has in areas in Western Russia of the Kursk region, in which Kijiw was after Zelenskyy lived.
Russia controls almost 20 percent of Ukraine, i.e. over 112,000 square kilometers, while Ukraine controls about 450 square kilometers of Kursk region, according to Open Source maps on the battlefield.
In 2024, Russian forces gained in Ukraine at the fastest pace since 2022, Russia invaded the year. But Russian profits brought hard costs, though undisclosed, losses of men and equipment.
In the face of exhaustion and soldiers from North Korea, these soldiers fight for Ukraine, claim that the war must end. The CBC information team talked to them before they returned to the front line, trying to maintain the territory confiscated in the Russian region of Kursk.
Zelenskyy told The Guardian Gazeta that he planned to offer Russia a simple territory exchange to end the war, including offering Kursk pockets that Ukraine has.
“We will exchange one territory into another,” said Zelenskyy, adding that he did not know which part of the territory of the busy Russian Ukraine would ask for a return.
“I don't know, we'll see. But all our territories are important, there is no priority, “he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow categorically rejects all offers in commercial territory.
“It's impossible,” he told journalists during the daily briefing. “Russia has never talked and will not discuss the exchange of its territory.”
Fatal attack in Kiev
Among the diplomatic development, the front rocket rockets in the Ukrainian capital killed at least one civilian and hurt four others, causing several fires in three million cities, gave Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine's Air Force reported that they shot down six of seven ballistic missiles in the attack. Of the 123 drones, the army shot down 71 and probably used electronic remedies against 40 more.
Local officials said that the night attack also damaged critical infrastructure and hurt two people in the northern Chernihiv region.