In his first trip abroad, the new U.S. defense secretary told allies, including NATO officials, that a durable peace could only come “with a realistic assessment of the battlefield.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it was unrealistic for Ukraine and its allies to seek to restore the borders between Ukraine and Russia before 2014, when the latter annexed Crimea. His remarks, which he made on Wednesday ahead of his first attendance at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting,

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said 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.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced a major shift in U.S. policy on Ukraine: The way forward, he told allies in Brussels, is to abandon the “illusory goal” of a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders and prepare for a negotiated settlement with Russia,

Speaking at a NATO meeting in Belgium, the defense secretary said the U.S. would no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship with its allies.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Ukraine returning to pre-2014 borders, accession to NATO is 'unrealistic' “It’s nuttier than you even think!” the longtime Democratic strategist said, while also offering a tactic to combat it.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Ukraine’s desire to recover territory lost to Russia since 2014 an “unrealistic objective," during a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels on Feb. 12.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared at his first meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Wednesday to tell allies that the liberation of all Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory "is an unrealistic objective.