A return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is “an unrealistic objective” and an “illusionary goal” in the peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia that President Trump wants to accomplish, Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, said on Wednesday at a meeting of countries supporting Ukraine.
In his first meeting that included NATO and Ukrainian defense ministers, Mr. Hegseth told them that Mr. Trump “intends to end this war by diplomacy and bringing both Russia and Ukraine to the table.” But for Ukraine to try to regain all of the territory Russia has seized since 2014, as it insists it must do, “will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,” he said.
“We will only end this devastating war and establish a durable peace by coupling allied strength with a realistic assessment of the battlefield,” he said.
Hours later, Mr. Trump wrote on social media that he had a long phone call with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and they had agreed to “start negotiations immediately” to end the war.
Mr. Hegseth, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, said that Mr. Trump expected Europe to bear more financial and military responsibility for Ukraine’s defense. He is scheduled to take part in a meeting of NATO defense ministers there on Thursday.
Europe, he said, must take more responsibility for its conventional defense and spend more money on its armed forces, up to 5 percent of national output, as the United States deals with its own security risks and the challenge of China.