Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth is being criticized for publicly embracing the notion that Ukraine may need to surrender a few of its sovereign territory to Russia.
Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014 and started a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“We must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,” Hegseth stated throughout a speech on the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.
The assertion was a reversal of U.S. coverage and consensus from most of Europe that Russia ought to stop hostilities and restore Ukraine’s territory. He additionally failed to point any position for Ukraine or different European nations within the negotiation course of.
“Nothing about Ukraine can be decided without Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky informed reporters after Hegseth’s speech, calling for European involvement in any peace course of.
President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin
“Ukraine’s betrayal after Afghanistan will have catastrophic consequences for America’s perception in the world,” an officer within the Ukrainian navy informed the Washington Submit.
EU Overseas Coverage Chief Kaja Kallas referred to as the assertion an “appeasement,” saying that the USA was giving Russia “everything they want even before the negotiations have started.”
Overseas coverage ministers for Germany and Spain additionally stated that “no decision on Ukraine can be made without Ukraine,” which was additionally echoed by ministers from the UK, France, Italy, and Poland, amongst others.
Republicans have remained largely silent since Hegseth’s speech, however one notable criticism got here from Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska.
“We should have moral clarity who started this war, who is bombing cities indiscriminately and who our real friend here is. There are consequences of rewarding the invader even if its leader foolishly led over 700,000 of its citizens to slaughter,” he wrote on X.
In the meantime, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut referred to as out Hegseth for abandoning Ukraine.
“Surrender & betrayal—this SecDef Hegseth message amounts to abandoning Ukraine, & undercutting the security of our European allies,” he wrote on X.
President Donald Trump has lengthy made clear his allegiance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he’ll proceed to mildew U.S. coverage to keep away from a conflict together with his political ally.
Throwing away years of help from Ukraine, as President Joe Biden pursued, had all the time been predicted of Trump’s second time period. Now it’s taking place, and individuals are going to undergo.
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