Pete Hegseth tells NATO that a return to Ukraine's 2014 borders is 'unrealistic'

Defense Secretary Hegseth said it was “unrealistic” to aim for a return to Ukraine’s borders as they were before 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that it is “unrealistic” to aim for a return to Ukraine’s borders as they were before 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and supported separatists who took over swaths of the country’s east.

The remarks are the clearest indication yet that the United States will support negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in which Ukraine cedes territory that’s already been seized by the Kremlin.

“We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine,” Hegseth said in a speech during a trip to NATO’s headquarters in Brussels. “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,” he told a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, at which Western allies discuss Russia’s ongoing invasion. “We will only end this devastating war — and establish a durable peace — by coupling allied strength with a realistic assessment of the battlefield.”

Hegseth’s remarks put meat on the bone of Trump’s radical departure from former President Joe Biden’s policy. Whereas Biden focused on all-out Ukrainian victory, Trump says he wants to end the war as quickly as possible.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hegseth-ukraine-borders-nato-russia-invasion-war-trump-rcna191824

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