STORY: U.S. defense chief rules out NATO membership for Ukraine in peace settlement with Russia
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 12, 2025
DATELINE: Feb. 13, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:07
LOCATION: Washington D.C.
CATEGORY: POLITICS/MILITARY

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): PETE HEGSETH, U.S. Secretary of Defense
2. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): PETE HEGSETH, U.S. Secretary of Defense

STORYLINE:

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ruled out Ukraine's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as part of a negotiated settlement to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Delivering opening remarks at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Hegseth said it is Washington's stance that security guarantees for Ukraine "should not be provided through NATO membership."

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): PETE HEGSETH, U.S. Secretary of Defense
"The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. 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 they should not be covered under Article 5. There also must be robust international oversight of the line of contact. To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine."

In addition, the secretary called it an "unrealistic objective" that the borders between Ukraine and Russia should be revert to what they were before Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): PETE HEGSETH, U.S. Secretary of Defense
"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. Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering."

Hegseth, a television host-turned-secretary of defense, gave the remarks as President Donald Trump's administration is making a full-throttle effort to broker peace between Kiev and Moscow, between which the full-blown conflict will soon mark the third anniversary.

Trump said Tuesday he is sending U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to Ukraine for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"This War MUST and WILL END SOON," Trump said on social media platform Truth Social, without mentioning when Bessent will make the trip.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Washington D.C.
(XHTV)