Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has definitively poured cold water on Ukraine's hopes of gaining Washington backing to join NATO, at a moment he's visiting the alliance's headquarters.
Hegseth issued firm words on this crucial question directly to the faces of top Ukrainian officials in opening remarks before the Ukraine Defense Contact Group - the alliance of 50+ countries and the European Union who support Ukraine's military - which is meeting in Brussels this week.
The US defense chief not only ruled out NATO membership, but laid out that it is "unrealistic" to expect Ukraine’s borders to revert to pre-2014, in reference to Russian rule over Crimea.
"We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective." Hegseth said.
And that's when he finally spoke some realism on the tragic conflict which is about to reach the 3-year mark, something which has been sorely missing from Washington commentary:
"Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering," he stressed.
On the question of Zelensky's stated goal of gaining NATO admission, which many independent analysts have long warned would surely trigger Article 5 and hurl Russia and the West toward direct nuclear-armed confrontation, Hegseth said the following:
"The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement."
He also vowed that no American troops would be sent to Ukraine as part of any future security agreement.
"Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops. If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission and not covered under Article 5. There also must be robust international oversight of the line of contact," the new Pentagon chief said.
He stressed that any potential security guarantees that result from negotiated settlement "should not be provided through NATO membership."
"To be clear," he continued, "as part of any security guarantee, there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine."
And as expected, he reiterated President Trump longtime calls for allies to increase their defense spending to 5% of their GDP, as opposed to the current goal of 2% (which many are still not achieving).
"Members of this contact group must meet the moment … 2% is not enough," Hegseth said. "President Trump has called for 5%, and I agree. Increasing your commitment to your own security is a down payment for the future, a down payment, as you said, Mr. Secretary, of peace through strength."
He also revealed part of Trump's strategy for leverage against Moscow to get them to the peace table. "Lower energy prices coupled with more effective enforcement of energy sanctions will help bring Russia to the table," he claimed, despite Moscow having shown its ability to weather the sanctions storm and even prosper.
Later this week Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will travel to Ukraine to meet Zelensky to talk about ways to end the conflict, but also as part of Trump efforts to secure access to the war-ravaged country's rare earth minerals. Given Hegseth's words, which could mark the final death knell for Ukraine's already long diminished hopes of achieving success, it looks like Washington under Trump is now quite serious about seeking a swift ending to the war and all its death and destruction.