U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied claims of abandoning Kyiv after Trump bypassed allies to negotiate with Putin, sparking fury in Europe and accusations of sidelining Ukraine in high-stakes peace talks.
On Thursday, the military chief of the United States under Donald Trump disputed that the president was betraying Ukraine by initiating discussions with Vladimir Putin of Russia. This came as European powers caught off guard, demanded that both Kyiv and themselves be included in the negotiations.
The decision to initiate negotiations with Moscow to resolve the nearly three-year war in Ukraine was made public during Trump’s first publicly acknowledged phone contact with Putin since regaining office on Wednesday, shocking European allies.
An unprecedented warming of relations between the two countries has caused Kyiv to worry that it may be left out of peace discussions regarding Ukraine after President Trump announced his intention to meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia.
That was after his administration rejected Ukraine’s plans to regain all of its land and join NATO as a means to bolster its defenses.
In that case, betrayal does not exist. Prior to his meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated, “There is no betrayal there. There is a recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested in peace.”
To achieve that goal, it will be necessary for both parties to face uncomfortable truths.
According to Trump, who has been advocating for a rapid resolution to the conflict, there has been no exclusion of Ukraine from the bilateral discussions between the two nuclear-armed nations.
After nearly 1.5 hours of negotiations, the Kremlin announced that Putin and President Trump had reached an agreement: the moment had arrived to work together.
Following his conversation with Putin, the US president spoke with Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine by phone and relayed the details of their conversation.
Zelensky will begin conversations with US Vice President JD Vance on Friday at a security conference in Munich.
This conference is the most recent in a series of high-level gatherings that have followed discussions between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukrainian officials regarding the possibility of Washington gaining access to rare earth reserves in Ukraine in exchange for security assistance.
After three years of unwavering Western support for Kyiv, Trump’s rapid peace drive has left many confused, despite widespread expectations of his outreach to Putin.
Fearing an empowered Putin and the bulk of the post-war security expenditures, Kyiv’s European backers are hoping Trump does not impose a terrible peace deal on Ukraine.
Rejecting a “dictated peace,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his defense minister expressed sorrow that Washington was already making “concessions” to the Kremlin.
“In my view it would have been better to speak about a possible NATO membership for Ukraine or possible losses of territory at the negotiating table,” stated German defense minister Boris Pistorius.
On Wednesday, Hegseth outlined a number of US demands meant to end the crisis, including the impracticality of Ukraine reclaiming all of its territory or joining NATO.
U.S. forces will not be sent to Ukraine as a security guarantee in any agreement, he added, and Europe must now begin giving the “overwhelming share” of aid.
The foreign ministers of major European nations, including the UK, France, Poland, and Germany, issued a joint statement on Wednesday stating that all parties involved must be present during any conversations involving Ukraine and Europe.
Despite Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine since 2022, Western powers have always emphasized that Kyiv must be involved in any choices regarding Ukraine’s future.
Thursday, NATO chief Mark Rutte stressed the importance of Kyiv being “closely involved” in discussions regarding the situation in Ukraine.
The statement was reinforced by Britain’s defense secretary, John Healey, who warned that no agreement with Ukraine would be successful unless Ukraine is involved and that Ukraine’s voice must be central to any negotiations.
Drawing attention to earlier remarks made by Hegseth, Rutte emphasized that any possible peace agreement must be “enduring.”
Russia’s ally, the Chinese government, expressed its delight at the “strengthening communication” between Pyongyang and Washington.
Luis Gochoco is a seasoned managing editor and writer with over a decade of experience covering politics, technology, gaming, and entertainment news. With a keen eye for breaking stories and in-depth analysis, he has established himself as a trusted voice in digital journalism. Luis is one of the key forces behind the success of GameNGuide, contributing to 12 million views through engaging and high-traffic content. He also played a pivotal role in generating 8 million views on International Business Times, shaping the platform’s technology and gaming coverage.
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