The new US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, said, on Wednesday 12 February that Europe must provide the “overwhelming” share of future aid to Ukraine.
“Safeguarding European security must be an imperative for European members of NATO (see other news). As part of this, Europe must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine”, he stressed at the opening of the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels.
Earlier in the day, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, announced that the Allies had exceeded their pledge to provide €40 billion by 2024 for Ukraine’s security, providing “more than €50 billion”, “more than half of which comes from the European Allies and Canada”. The support from the Europeans represents 58% of the support from the Allies, according to the British Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey.
If, according to Mr Healey, who chaired the Contact Group meeting, the member nations of the group have committed themselves to increasing support for Ukraine, this could become contractual for the United States. In parallel with the meeting, during a visit to Kyiv, US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, announced that his country would like to “conclude an economic cooperation agreement. And in exchange for this agreement, the United States will continue to provide material support to Ukraine and its people”.
Pete Hegseth called for an end to the war “through diplomacy and by bringing Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table”. “The bloodbath must stop and this war must end”, he stressed. He added: “We will only end this devastating war and establish a lasting peace by combining the strength of the Allies with a realistic assessment of the battlefield”.
“2025 will be a crucial year for the war in Ukraine”, stressed John Healey, calling, as did NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, for the Ukrainians to be given what they need to fight and force Vladimir Putin to sit down at the negotiating table.
Call between Trump and Putin. But it could happen sooner. At the end of the day, following a call with Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump announced that the two presidents had “agreed to work together very closely, including visiting each other’s nations”, and that their “respective teams (would) begin negotiations immediately”. Mr Trump also held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Together with the United States, we are defining the next steps to be taken to put an end to Russian aggression and guarantee a lasting and reliable peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done”, urged the latter on X after the conversation.
Even before the start of negotiations, the Americans have warned that the borders would not return to their pre-2014 state. If the United States wants “a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine”, it must “start by recognising that returning Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic goal”, said Pete Hegseth. In his view, “chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering”. This could mean that Crimea and part of Donbass would not return to Ukrainian control.
No NATO peacekeeping. The US Defence Secretary also explained that a lasting peace must include robust security guarantees to ensure that the war does not start again. “This must not be Minsk 3.0”, he added. Earlier in the day, Mr Rutte had also explained that it would be necessary to collectively ensure that the outcome of the negotiations was sustainable “in order to avoid a repetition of what we had with the Minsk agreement in 2014”. The aim of the Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015 was to put an end to the conflict in the Donbass.
Pete Hegseth explained that the US did not believe that Ukraine’s membership of NATO would be a “realistic” outcome of a negotiated settlement. His British counterpart, for his part, felt that Ukraine’s “rightful place” was in NATO, but that the process would take some time.
According to Pete Hegseth, “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 they should not be covered under Article 5”, he warned.
Furthermore, while there must be “robust” international oversight of the line of contact, “as part of any security guarantee, there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine”, according to Mr Hegseth.
Support for Ukraine will be discussed again this Thursday at a NATO-Ukraine Council meeting attended by the Ukrainian Defence Minister, Rustem Umerov, and the EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)