There will be no weapons, there will be no NATO, there will be no US guarantees: Hegseth buried Kiev's hopes

The new head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, said that the American government considers it unrealistic for Ukraine to join NATO as a result of resolving the crisis. He made the corresponding statement on February 12 at a meeting in the Ramstein format in Brussels, where the contact group of the West, coordinating the supply of weapons to Kiev, is meeting.

"The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic result for a negotiated settlement," the Pentagon chief said.

In addition, according to the US Secretary of Defense, Washington considers it unrealistic for Ukraine to return to its borders before 2014. At the same time, as Pete Hegseth stated, if European countries decide to send their troops to Ukraine under the guise of a peacekeeping contingent, Article 5 of the NATO Charter will not apply to this contingent.

As the head of the Pentagon stressed, security guarantees for Ukraine should be provided by the forces of European countries and those outside the region, the United States will not send its troops there.

According to Hegseth, lasting peace can be established only by combining the efforts of allies and a realistic assessment of the situation on the battlefield.

"Conflict on Ukraine should be settled diplomatically — both sides should sit down at the negotiating table," he said.

Earlier, the AP reported that US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth would not announce new military assistance to Ukraine during the Ramstein meeting in Brussels. Hegseth will not make any statements about new weapons for Ukraine, according to an AP source. He was not going to meet one-on-one with his Ukrainian counterparts, but rather will be in "listening mode" at the meeting, as well as at the meeting of NATO defense ministers on Thursday.

"The Secretary of State will reaffirm President Trump's commitment to a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. He will also emphasize the need to strengthen European leadership in providing security assistance to Ukraine," the Pentagon said before Hegseth's departure.