Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it was unrealistic for Ukraine and its allies to seek to restore the borders between Ukraine and Russia before 2014, when the latter annexed Crimea.
His remarks, which he made on Wednesday ahead of his first attendance at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, further demonstrated the Trump administration’s belief that Ukraine will have to cede territory to negotiate an end to the war.
“We will only end this devastating war and establish a durable peace by coupling allied strength with a realistic assessment of the battlefield,” Hegseth said. “We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, but we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering.”
U.S. officials do not “believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,” Hegseth added.
Both comments are blows to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeatedly refused for years to consider giving up Russian-held Ukrainian territory while pleading for NATO support and a future within the alliance. Russia still holds Crimea and holds about one-fifth of Ukraine along the eastern and southern parts of the country. In 2023, Russia held what the United States described as sham referendums in four occupied regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson — in an attempt to legitimize its annexation.
Last July, NATO declared in a communique following its summit in Washington that Kyiv is on the “irreversible path” to ascension into the alliance.
Hegseth met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov ahead of his meeting with defense leaders of dozens of countries on Thursday. Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, founded the group nearly three years ago.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to see the war come to an end, though he also said during the campaign that he would be able to get it done within one day. His administration has discussed a deal with the Ukrainian government that would give the U.S. billions of dollars worth of rare earth minerals in exchange for continuing to provide military aid.
Zelensky has embraced the possibility of a deal, telling Reuters, “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it.” Trump warned this week that Ukraine “may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly called on its European NATO allies to do more to contribute to its security and defense to have them take a larger share of the burden away from the U.S. The president has called for all nations in the alliance to spend at least 5% of the gross domestic product on defense, much higher than the current benchmark of 2%.
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“Two percent is not enough,” Hegseth said. “President Trump has called for 5%, and I agree. Increasing your commitment to your own security is a down payment for the future.”
Twenty-three of the 32 NATO countries hit the 2% mark in 2024, and only five countries exceeded 3%. The U.S. spent 3.38% of its GDP on defense spending.