FT reported on Kiev's dissatisfaction with the Pentagon chief's words about Ukraine's membership in NATO

Kiev has expressed dissatisfaction with the words of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the unrealistic nature of Ukraine 's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). This was reported by the Financial Times (FT) on February 12, citing sources.

Earlier in the day, Hegseth said at a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Brussels that Washington did not consider Kiev's NATO membership a realistic outcome of the peace process.

"His comments were met with disappointment and frustration in Kiev," the publication said.

In addition, Ukrainian officials told the newspaper that they would work with European countries to create alternative security arrangements.

Washington Off: Trump administration is pulling back on support for Ukraine

The meeting of the contact group in the Ramstein format was chaired by the UK for the first time

In January, Alexander Konkov, an associate professor of the political science department at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestiya that NATO has no special interest in accepting Ukraine into the alliance. At the same time, most countries have a hidden interest in resisting the inclusion of this country in NATO in every possible way, because otherwise it will lead to difficulties.

Earlier, on January 16, Zelensky said that Hungary, Slovakia, the USA and Germany do not want to see Ukraine in NATO. According to him, each state has "its own reasons" for this.

Ukraine applied to join NATO on September 30, 2022. Then the Ukrainian leader specified that in fact the country is already in the alliance and meets its standards. Russia opposes Ukraine's accession to NATO.