In just one speech by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week, the most powerful member of NATO has thrown the world’s biggest military alliance into disarray, raising troubling questions about America’s commitment to European security.
Reading the riot act to U.S. allies, Hegseth said that Ukraine will not get all its territory back from Russia and will not be allowed to join NATO, which would provide the ultimate security guarantee to ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin never attacks it again.
NATO has also helped Ukraine’s armed forces shift from Soviet-era military doctrine to modern thinking, and has strengthened Ukraine’s defense and security institutions.
Beyond that, Hegseth said that NATO will not come to the rescue of any European nation involved in that force if it is attacked by Russia.
Hegseth told almost 50 of Ukraine ’s Western backers on Wednesday that he had joined their meeting “to directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe.”.
