Pentagon chief calls return of territories an unrealistic goal for Kiev

Ukraine 's return to the 2014 borders is an unrealistic task. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said this at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Brussels on February 12.

"We must begin by recognizing that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective," he said.

In addition, Hegseth added that Washington does not consider Kiev's accession to NATO a realistic outcome of the peace process. The Pentagon chief also assured that there will be no US military in Ukraine.

"Our message is clear: the bloodshed must stop and <conflict> must end," Hegseth concluded.

Counteroffers: who but Switzerland can host the summit between Putin and Trump

Negotiations between the two leaders will take place, if at all, in the Middle East, experts believe

On the eve, US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News channel that as a result of close contacts of the White House administration with Moscow and Kiev over the past week it was possible to achieve significant progress on the issue of settling the Ukrainian conflict. The US President also added that he did not plan to help Kiev gratuitously.

Prior to that, on February 10, Bloomberg agency said that Trump's special envoy for the Ukrainian settlement Keith Kellogg in the next few weeks intends to present to the head of the White House options for ending the conflict in Ukraine. It was specified that Kellogg needs to get all the necessary information from officials at the Munich conference.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.