Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has definitively poured cold water on Ukraine’s hopes of gaining Washington backing to join NATO, at a moment he’s visiting the alliance’s headquarters. Hegseth issued firm words on this crucial question directly to the faces of top Ukrainian officials in opening remarks before the Ukraine Defense Contact Group – the alliance of 50+ countries and the European Union who support Ukraine’s military – which is meeting in Brussels this week. The US defense chief not only ruled out NATO membership, but laid out that it is “unrealistic” to expect Ukraine’s borders to revert to pre-2014, in reference to Russian rule over Crimea. “We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.” Hegseth said. And that’s when he finally spoke some realism on the tragic conflict which is about to reach the 3-year mark, something which has been sorely missing from Washington commentary: “Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,” he stressed. On the question of Zelensky’s stated goal of gaining NATO admission, which many independent analysts have long warned would surely trigger Article 5 and hurl Russia and the West […]