Washington [US], February 13: Pete Hegseth, the new US defence secretary, says it is "unrealistic" to expect Ukraine to return to its pre-2014 borders, when Russia first captured Crimea and Moscow-backed proxies pushed into eastern Ukraine.
Speaking at a defence summit in Brussels, Hegseth says it will only be possible to establish a "durable peace" with a "realistic assessment of the battlefield".
During an uncompromising speech, he also downplayed the prospect of Ukraine joining Nato, ruled out deploying US troops to Ukraine under any future security arrangement and says European nations need to spend much more on defence.
The Nato military alliance has previously pledged Kyiv an "irreversible path" to membership.
Hegseth's comments will be met with dismay in Ukraine - which has repeatedly called for Nato membership and has rejected ceding territory as part of any peace deal - and will be welcomed by Moscow.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
