In his first trip abroad, the new U.S. defense secretary told allies, including NATO officials, that a durable peace could only come “with a realistic assessment of the battlefield.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders was unrealistic and the Trump administration does not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution to the war triggered by Russia's invasion.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced a major shift in U.S. policy on Ukraine: The way forward, he told allies in Brussels, is to abandon the “illusory goal” of a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders and prepare for a negotiated settlement with Russia,

The defense secretary's remarks further demonstrated the Trump administration's belief that Ukraine will have to cede territory to negotiate an end to the war.

Speaking at a NATO meeting in Belgium, the defense secretary said the U.S. would no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship with its allies.

The defense secretary outlined the Trump administration’s expectations as it pushes a negotiated end to the war with Russia.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Ukraine’s desire to recover territory lost to Russia since 2014 an “unrealistic objective," during a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels on Feb. 12.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared at his first meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Wednesday to tell allies that the liberation of all Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory "is an unrealistic objective.