US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declared Ukraine’s NATO membership and restoration of its pre-2014 borders “unrealistic” during his first Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, while no new military aid package was announced at what has historically been a crucial forum for Western support.
“The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,” Hegseth said, emphasizing President Trump’s priority to end the war through diplomacy by bringing both Russia and Ukraine to negotiations.
The meeting, part of the “Ramstein format” that has served as the primary platform for coordinating Western military aid since April 2022, marked a stark departure from previous gatherings where the US regularly announced substantial military assistance packages. Under the Biden administration, these monthly meetings of over 40 nations resulted in deliveries of advanced systems like Patriot air defenses and ATACMS missiles.
Hegseth echoed calls by Trump for Nato allies to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP, instead of the current 2% target – saying the latter is “not enough.”
The US currently spends roughly 3.4% of its GDP on defense, while the UK spends about 2.3%. Countries closer to Russia, like Poland and the Baltic states, spend the most proportionately at around 4%.
“Safeguarding European security must be an imperative for European members of NATO,” Hegseth stated, noting that Russia is now spending more on defense than all European nations combined.
British Defense Secretary immediately pushed back against this position, insisting that Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO.
Hegseth praised some European nations’ recent initiatives, pointing to Sweden’s $1.2 billion ammunition package and Poland’s defense spending of 5% of GDP as “a model for the continent.” However, he emphasized that much more was needed, saying, “The United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency.”
The Pentagon chief outlined a new “division of labor” between the US and European allies, citing America’s need to focus on threats from China in the Indo-Pacific region. Under this arrangement, European nations would need to provide the “overwhelming share” of future lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine.
“If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission. And they should not be covered under Article 5,” Hegseth explained, ruling out US troop deployment to Ukraine under any security guarantees.
