The Pentagon of the ‘red line’ of Ukraine

“It is necessary to make it clear that the US will not deploy soldiers to Ukraine as part of any security guarantee,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a meeting between NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium on February 12, mentioning the potential peace agreement between Kiev and Moscow.

According to him, any peace process “must start by admitting that regaining the Ukrainian border as before 2014 is an unrealistic goal”, although the US wants Ukraine to be the country “with sovereignty” and prosperity “.

“The United States does not believe that admitting Ukraine into NATO is the actual result of the solution after the negotiation process,” the Pentagon leader emphasized.

This is considered the “red line” that President Donald Trump’s administration outlined in the issue of solving Ukraine. European allies were waiting for a clear view from the Trump administration, after he asked NATO to double defense spending and pledged to quickly end the war in Ukraine.

In addition to Hegseth Minister, a series of senior US officials will come to Europe this week, in which Vice President JD Vance is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany on February 14.

The US president is promoting efforts to quickly stop fighting in Ukraine, while President Zelensky urged Washington to ensure Kiev security as part of any agreement with Russia.

Ukraine is concerned about any solution that does not include solid commitments, such as NATO members for Kiev or deploying Western peacekeeping soldiers to this country, will only help Russia have time to recreate force. The amount to prepare for the new attack.

The US Defense Secretary also affirmed that Washington expects European allies to increase defense spending and support with Ukraine.

“European security protection must be a mandatory requirement for NATO members in this continent. , Hegseth said.

He said the United States maintained a commitment to the NATO Union and the defense partnership with Europe, but the warning would not accept the “imbalance relationship” in the Atlantic Alliance.

President Trump recently called on NATO members to spend 5% of GDP for defense budget. Previously, he repeatedly complained about the low defense spending level in many European countries.

Currently, Europe accounts for less than one -third of NATO’s total defense budget, contributing US $ 442 billion out of the alliance’s US $ 1.44 trillion. The Institute of Strategic and International Research (IISS) in the UK pointed out that if European countries fulfill their commitment to spending 3% of GDP for defense, NATO will have more than $ 250 billion. This figure will increase to 750 billion USD if they reach 5% threshold as Mr. Trump wants.

However, IISS said such figures could not be achieved, when some countries even had to use non -budget amounts to increase defense spending. The researchers added that even maintaining the current budget increase “may be a challenge” for Europe.