US defense secretary on Ukraine's borders: accepting reality does not mean making concessions

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has expanded on his thesis that returning Ukraine's borders to those that existed before 2014 is not a realistic goal.

Source: European Pravda, citing Hegseth’s remarks at a press conference after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday, 13 February

Details: Hegseth said that "realism is an important part of the conversation", which has not been enough before.

"But simply pointing out realism, like the borders will not be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014, is not a concession to Vladimir Putin.

It's a recognition of hard power realities on the ground, after a lot of investment in sacrifice, first by the Ukrainians and then by allies, and then a realisation that a negotiated peace is going to be some sort of demarcation that neither side wants," the US secretary of defense said.

He also rejected criticism of Donald Trump's approach, saying that the US president has already made concessions to Vladimir Putin.

"The arguments that have been made that somehow coming to the table right now is making concessions to Vladimir Putin outright that we otherwise or that the president of the United States should not otherwise make... I just reject that," Hegseth said.

He added that Putin is ready for talks because he responds to force and sees Trump as a strong opponent.

Background:

• On Wednesday, Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine "immediately".
• After that, Trump called Volodymyr Zelenskyy and discussed further contacts.

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