Ukraine's demand
USA: Return to borders before 2014 “unrealistic”
Ukraine is demanding security guarantees from its Western allies in return for peace talks. In this context, admission to NATO is key for Kiev. However, in the view of the US government under President Donald Trump, this is "not a realistic outcome". On Wednesday, the US Secretary of Defense also rejected another demand from the Ukrainian government.
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen A return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders - i.e. before Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula - is "unrealistic", said Pete Hegseth before his meeting with the Ukraine Contact Group in Brussels. The US Secretary of Defense made it clear that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine must end. President Trump intends to bring this about by diplomatic means.
This means that Washington has partly toed the Kremlin's line. This is because Moscow also rejects the exchange of occupied territories recently proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The head of state brought up the parts of the Kursk region controlled by Ukrainian troops. "Russia has never discussed an exchange of its territory and will not do so," explained Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
No US soldiers in Ukraine
The US government wants a sovereign Ukraine. The country needs security guarantees, above all through the presence of European troops after the end of the war. Hegseth emphasized that the USA would not send any soldiers to Ukraine.
With regard to the military alliance, Hegseth said on the short message platform X: "NATO must be a stronger, more lethal force - not a diplomatic club." He published a photo of his arrival at the Brussels headquarters. NATO sees itself as a purely "defensive alliance". The new Pentagon chief is on his inaugural visit to Brussels.
Currently no plans for US withdrawal from Europe
On Tuesday, Hegseth visited US military bases in Germany. With regard to Ukraine, he said that Europe itself must contribute the most to the defense of its neighborhood. Trump's minister played down fears of a withdrawal of around 100,000 US troops from Europe. He emphasized that "there are currently no plans in preparation to cut anything".
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Da dieser Artikel älter als 18 Monate ist, ist zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt kein Kommentieren mehr möglich.
Wir laden Sie ein, bei einer aktuelleren themenrelevanten Story mitzudiskutieren: Themenübersicht.
Bei Fragen können Sie sich gern an das Community-Team per Mail an forum@krone.at wenden.