The Trump administration's approach to the Ukraine peace process emphasizes the necessity of addressing Russia's fundamental conditions to facilitate serious negotiations. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth articulated that Ukraine should not pursue NATO membership and that the U.S. would not send troops or guarantee military support for EU troops. Critics argue this undermines previous promises, yet it reflects a harsh reality where time is critical for Ukraine's position. The initial talks are suggested to exclude Ukrainians and Europeans to avoid failure, aiming for a pragmatic resolution given the severe consequences of protraction in the conflict.
In his speech in Munich, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth set those conditions: no NATO membership for Ukraine, no US troops in Ukraine, and no US military guarantee for EU troops in Ukraine.
Hegseth has only stated publicly what the Biden administration should long have recognized: that since Biden repeatedly declared that he would not send US troops to fight to defend Ukraine, the offer of hypothetical NATO membership was always in effect a lie.
Hegseth’s statement that Ukraine could not reconquer its lost territories militarily also simply recognizes a reality that has been obvious to all serious military analysts for more than a year.
It could produce a catastrophically worse one. And what is certain—though this seems of remarkably little importance to many Western 'humanitarians'—tens or hundreds of thousands more people will have died.
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