US defence chief Hegseth calls NATO membership for Ukraine unrealistic

Brussels, Feb 12 (AP) US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and in sweeping remarks suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia and instead prepare for a negotiated peace settlement to be backed up by international troops.

Hegseth's strident comments came during the first trip to NATO by a member of the new Trump administration. Allies have been waiting to hear how much continued military and financial support Washington intends to provide to the Ukrainian government.

What they heard was that President Donald Trump is intent on getting Europe to assume most of the financial and military responsibilities for the defence of Ukraine, including a possible peacekeeping force that would not include US troops.

Hegseth said the force should not have Article Five protections, which could require the US or the 31 other nations of the NATO alliance to come to the aid of those forces if they end up in contact with Russian forces.

Hegseth's stark message, and his insistence that Russia should keep some territory that Ukraine wants back, is likely to complicate talks later this week between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Vice President JD Vance and other senior American officials at a major security security conference in Munich.

“The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,” Hegseth said, as Kyiv's backers gathered at NATO headquarters for a meeting to drum up more arms and ammunition for the war, which will soon enter its fourth year.

All 32 allies must agree for a country to join NATO, meaning that every member has a veto.

“Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,” Hegseth said. “To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine.” Hegseth insisted that NATO should play no role in any future military mission to police the peace in Ukraine and that any peacekeeping troops should not be covered by the part of NATO's founding treaty that obliges all allies to come to the aid of any member under attack.

Article Five has been activated only once, when European allies and Canada used the collective security guarantee to help the United States in the wake of the September 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks on New York and Washington.

Hegseth also said Europe "must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and nonlethal aid to Ukraine.” Ukraine currently relies equally on Europe and the US for about 30 per cent each of its defence needs. The rest is produced by Ukraine itself.

Addressing the allies of Ukraine known as the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, he also insisted that Ukraine's Western backers must abandon the “illusionary goal” of returning the country to its pre-2014 borders, before Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and seized parts of eastern Ukraine.

“Members of this contact group must meet the moment,” Hegseth said to the approximately 50 member countries that have provided support to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

“We hear you,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey said in response to Hegseth's opening remarks. Both Hegseth and Healey spoke in front of journalists at the top of a closed-door session in Brussels to discuss future aid to Ukraine.

Over nearly three years, those 50 countries have collectively provided Ukraine with more than USD 126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including more than USD 66.5 billion from the US, which has served as the chair of the group since its creation.

But the meeting this week was convened by the United Kingdom, and no decision has been made on who might chair the next meeting, if one is called.

Hegseth wasn't expected to make any announcement on new weapons for Ukraine.

His trip comes less than two weeks before the third anniversary of Russia's invasion on February 24, 2022. Most US allies fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin won't stop at Ukraine's borders if he wins, and that Europe's biggest land war in decades poses an existential threat to their security.

Trump has promised to end the war quickly. He's complained that it's costing American taxpayers too much money and suggested that Ukraine should pay for US support with access to its rare earth minerals, energy and other resources.

Hegseth in his remarks said that NATO member nations also need to significantly increase defence spending to 5 per cent of their budgets — a high mark that the US does not presently meet either.

“The United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependence. Rather, our relationship will prioritise empowering Europe to own responsibility for its own security," Hegseth said.

European allies have hiked their military budgets since Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine, and 23 of them are estimated to have reached or exceeded last year's target of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product, but a third still fall short.

Some US allies worry that a hasty deal might be clinched on terms that aren't favourable to Ukraine.

Before Hegseth spoke, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told The Associated Press that Putin will only negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine if its backers continue to provide enough weapons and ammunition.

“We have to make sure that he has no other option, and that means to force him to the table,” Rutte said. “He needs to understand that we will not give up on Ukraine. We have to make sure that we have maximum economic impact on Russia.” Hegseth's remarks come a day after American history teacher Marc Fogel returned safely to the US after three years in a Russian prison. The White House suggested that his release could help to advance negotiations on ending the war.

Trump said another American, someone “very special,” would be released Wednesday, though he declined to name the person or say from what country. The president did not say what the United States exchanged for Fogel's release. (AP) GSP

Source: PTI