Wed Feb 12 14:39:03 UTC 2025: ## US Rejects Ukraine’s Pre-2014 Borders Restoration, NATO Membership

**Brussels, Belgium** – US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth declared on Wednesday that restoring Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is unrealistic and that Ukraine’s NATO membership is not a viable solution to end the ongoing war with Russia. This represents the most direct statement yet from the Trump administration regarding its approach to the nearly three-year conflict.

Speaking at a NATO meeting with Ukraine’s allies, Hegseth urged European nations to take greater responsibility for European security. He emphasized the US’s desire for a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, but insisted that pursuing the pre-2014 border objective would only prolong the war and increase suffering.

Hegseth asserted that a lasting peace requires robust security guarantees, but stated that NATO membership for Ukraine is not a realistic outcome of negotiations. Instead, he proposed security guarantees supported by European and non-European troops deployed under a non-NATO mission, explicitly excluding Article 5 protection (the alliance’s mutual defense clause). Russia currently occupies roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory, having annexed Crimea in 2014 and backing separatists in the Donbas region.

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