The United States has not ruled out Ukraine’s potential NATO membership or a return to its pre-2014 borders, contradicting recent remarks from its own defense chief, as Washington gears up for possible peace negotiations to end the Ukraine war.
John Coale, Deputy Envoy for Ukraine under President Donald Trump, stated on Thursday that Ukraine’s NATO membership and a restoration of its pre-2014 borders remain “on the table.” His comments counter those made by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just a day earlier in Brussels, where Hegseth deemed a return to Ukraine’s former borders unrealistic and dismissed NATO membership for Kyiv as part of any peace settlement.
Hegseth’s remarks had sparked concerns that the US was conceding to Russian President Vladimir Putin before talks even began. However, Hegseth appeared to reverse course on Thursday, telling reporters that “everything is on the table” and emphasizing that final decisions rest with President Trump.
President Trump, responding to Coale’s comments, asserted that Russia would never allow Ukraine to join NATO and blamed President Joe Biden’s administration for fueling the conflict by raising the prospect of Kyiv’s membership in the alliance.
“I believe that is the reason the war started. Biden shouldn’t have said that,” Trump said from the White House.
Trump’s administration has now directed top officials to initiate discussions aimed at ending the nearly three-year-old war, leaving the international community watching closely for the next move in the high-stakes negotiations.
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