Brussels, Feb 13 (EFE).- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine was not a “betrayal” of Kyiv and that Washington had made the largest “commitment” to that country.
“There is no betrayal there. There is a recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested in peace, a negotiated peace, as President Trump has said, stopping the killing. And so that will require both sides recognizing things they don’t want to,” Hegseth told reporters before the start of a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Hegseth’s remarks come after Trump spoke by phone Wednesday with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a first step toward trying to end the war in Ukraine.
The US defense secretary said that no country had made “a larger commitment” to Ukraine than the US, adding that Washington has provided Kyiv with “more than $300 billion.”
Hegseth said that the US was an “active part” of NATO and would remain so.
“My job as secretary of defense, working alongside NATO, is to ensure that the defense capabilities of this alliance are as strong and robust as possible to deter any future aggression on the continent,” he added.
Hegseth insisted on the need to increase defense spending “across the world.”
“Even 2 percent of GDP is not enough. 3 and 4 (percent of GDP) and ultimately as President Trump has said, 5 percent of defense spending is critical,” he said.
According to the US secretary of defense, Europe has a responsibility to stop the Russian “war machine.”
“My role is to speak realistically about the course of the (Ukrainian-Russian) conflict and I think you saw from President Trump yesterday, who himself is the best negotiator on the planet, bringing the two sides together to find a negotiated peace, which is ultimately what everyone wants,” he added. EFE
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