Secretary of Defense warns Europe not to treat the US as a «fool»

The United States Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, rejected criticism of Washington’s negotiation strategy with Russia about the war in Ukraine and asked NATO members to increase the expenditure in defense.

“The US will no longer tolerate an unbalanced relationship that foster dependence; Rather, our relationship will prioritize empowering Europe to assume the responsibility of their own security ”, Hegseth said.

The senior official asked Europe not to treat the US as a «fool» and defended his comments that a return to the borders of Ukraine prior to 2014 was unrealistic.

«The borders will not return to what everyone would like to be in 2014. It is not a concession to Vladimir Putin, it is a recognition of the harsh realities of power on the ground after a lot of investment and sacrifice, first by the Ukrainians and then For the allies, «he explained during a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Hegesh rejected the idea that he was undermining the security of NATO or Europe and said that they (Europe) should be responsible for defense in the continent.

«NATO is a great alliance, the most successful defense alliance in history, but to last in the future our partners must do much more for the defense of Europe. We must make NATO again be great,» he said.

President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday and told US officials to begin conversations to end the war of almost three years.

Trump’s unilateral proposal to Putin, accompanied by apparent concessions in the main demands of Ukraine, generated alarm in both kyiv and the NATO European allies, who said they feared that the White House could reach an agreement without them.

«We, as a sovereign country, simply cannot accept any agreement without us,» said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, journalists in Ukraine.

European officials adopted a firm line in public towards Trump’s peace proposal, saying that any agreement would be impossible to implement unless they and the Ukrainians were included in the negotiation.