Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is being criticized for publicly embracing the notion that Ukraine might have to give up some of its sovereign territory to Russia.
Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014 and began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“We must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,” Hegseth said during a speech at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.
The statement was a reversal of U.S. policy and consensus from most of Europe that Russia should cease hostilities and restore Ukraine’s territory. He also failed to indicate any role for Ukraine or other European nations in the negotiation process.
“Nothing about Ukraine can be decided without Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters after Hegseth’s speech, calling for European involvement in any peace process.
President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin
“Ukraine’s betrayal after Afghanistan will have catastrophic consequences for America’s perception in the world,” an officer in the Ukrainian military told the Washington Post.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas called the statement an “appeasement,” saying that the United States was giving Russia “everything they want even before the negotiations have started.”
Foreign policy ministers for Germany and Spain also said that “no decision on Ukraine can be made without Ukraine,” which was also echoed by ministers from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Poland, among others.
Republicans have remained largely silent since Hegseth’s speech, but one notable criticism came from Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska.
“We should have moral clarity who started this war, who is bombing cities indiscriminately and who our real friend here is. There are consequences of rewarding the invader even if its leader foolishly led over 700,000 of its citizens to slaughter,” he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut called out Hegseth for abandoning Ukraine.
“Surrender & betrayal—this SecDef Hegseth message amounts to abandoning Ukraine, & undercutting the security of our European allies,” he wrote on X.
President Donald Trump has long made clear his allegiance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he will continue to mold U.S. policy to avoid a clash with his political ally.
Throwing away years of support from Ukraine, as President Joe Biden pursued, had always been predicted of Trump’s second term. Now it is happening, and people are going to suffer.
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