Return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders not realistic: U.S. Defense chief Hegseth

U.S. Defense Secretary dismisses NATO membership for Ukraine, calls for realistic approach to end Russia-Ukraine war.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday (February 12, 2025) that a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders was unrealistic and the Trump administration does not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution to the war triggered by Russia's invasion.

Speaking at a meeting of Ukraine's military allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Mr. Hegseth delivered the clearest and bluntest public statement so far on the new U.S. administration's approach to the nearly three-year-old war.

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He also told Washington's NATO allies that they would have to step up and assume greater responsibility for Europe's security.

"We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective," Mr. Hegseth told the meeting of more than 40 countries allied to Ukraine.

"Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering," he added.

Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and then backed pro-Russian separatists in an armed insurgency against Kyiv's forces in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.