HegSeth excludes NATO membership in Ukraine as part of any ceasefire with Russia

US Defense Minister Beit Higseth said that the peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia must include security guarantees for Ukraine, but should not be presented through NATO membership, but it must instead support it by the European and non -European forces.

The head of defense spoke a long time before the president Trump announced In a post on social media, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, during a phone call to the Russian leader on Wednesday. He said that he would invite Ukraine President Voludimir Zellinski immediately “to inform him of the conversation.”

In the observations that were delivered before a closed meeting of the Ukraine’s Defense Communication Group to discuss more assistance to Ukraine, Higseth called Ukraine’s goal – “an unrealistic goal.”

“As part of any security guarantee, American forces will not be deployed” in Ukraine.

Moreover, he said that any peacekeeping forces deployed in Ukraine should not be part of the NATO mission, nor covered by Article 5, the mutual defense agreement in the alliance.

About 50 countries are the defensive communication group in Ukraine, which has provided support to Ukraine since Russia has launched a large -scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

Higseth said that, to move forward, Europe must “provide the overwhelming share of deadly and non -deadly aid to Ukraine,” and urged those who attended the Brussels Summit to speak to their governments about increasing their defensive spending, as the United States converted its focus elsewhere.

We will not be “a basic guarantor of security in Europe.”

“I am also here today to express indisputingly and unambiguously that strategic strategic facts prevent the United States from being the primary guarantor of security in Europe,” he said, stressing that the United States will focus on border security and China.

“The United States gives priority to the deterrence of war with China in the Pacific, with the realization of the reality of scarcity, and making the bounties of resources to ensure that deterrence does not fail. With the United States turning to its attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front, Higseth said.

The Associated Press reported that the defensive communication group in Ukraine in total has provided Ukraine with more than $ 126 billion of military aid and weapons. The United States has offered 66.5 billion dollars from it and headed the group from its inception. It is not clear from the next meeting.

“We hear you,” said John Healy, UK’s defense minister, in response to Higseth’s comments.

Mr. Trump promised that he would quickly end the war in Ukraine when he took office earlier this year, and often complains about being very expensive for American taxpayers.

In his remarks, Higseth said that the United States and Europe “could create a section of work that increases our relative advantage in Europe and the Pacific, respectively,” but they will require our European allies to enter the arena and take over the ownership of traditional security on this continent.

“The United States is still committed to the NATO alliance and partnership with Europe,” Higseth said. “But the United States will not tolerate an unbalanced relationship that encourages dependency. Instead, our relationship will give the priority to enabling Europe to have the responsibility of its security.”

Eleanor Watson

He contributed to this report.