MBABANE: The United States(US) Secretary of Defense has signalled a major shift in Washington’s approach to the war in Ukraine during his first meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies, Aljazeera reported on Wednesday afternoon.
It has been reported that, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth was speaking at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where he outlined a hardline pivot in United States policy following four(4) years of former US President Joe Biden, while maintaining that, ending the conflict in Ukraine remained “a top priority”.
The Secretary of Defense spoke shortly before US President Donald Trump announced that, he held his first call with Russian President Vladimir Putin since taking office.
“Our message is clear: The bloodshed must stop and this war must end,” Hegseth said in an address to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which includes all 32 members of NATO as well as other backers of Kyiv.
The US Secretary of Defense said, Ukraine must abandon its “illusionary goal” of a return to it’s pre-2014 borders, referring to the year when Russia seized the Ukrainian territories of Crimea and Donbas.
The war-torn country must prepare for a negotiated settlement with Russia, potentially backed by a non-NATO international force, Hegseth said.
On another note, Hegseth said the United States might be focusing on other challenges adding that, on top of the agenda “is China’s growing economic and military clout globally.
“There are other challenges , and on top of that agenda is China’s growing economic and military clout globally, which the Americans would like to counter,” he said.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium [Omar Havana/AP Photo]