Trump deciding. Pentagon not ruling out nuclear weapons to be provided to Ukraine

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that he does not rule out the possibility of providing nuclear weapons to Ukraine. At the same time, he emphasized that this decision depends on U.S. President Donald Trump.

Hegseth said this in an interview with Breitbart News.

" I’m not here to declare anything on or off the table. That’s not my job. That’s the president’s job. He’s the leader, he’s the master negotiator and dealmaker," the Defense Secretary noted.

The head of the Pentagon also confirmed that the Trump administration is working to determine "certain types of conditions" for a peaceful resolution of the war.

"Some of us are out there to help set certain types of conditions that could make a deal more likely and that’s what I’ve tried to do here in the context of NATO," he said.

Earlier, the U.S. Defense Secretary made several statements that caused a controversial reaction. In particular, he expressed the opinion that:

• Ukraine should not be offered NATO membership in the near future.
• A return to internationally recognized borders (before 2014) is currently "unrealistic."
• American troops will not be deployed in Ukraine, and the peacekeeping mission should not be part of NATO, in order to avoid invoking Article 5 and drawing the United States into direct conflict.

Western media noted that these words caused "shock" among European allies who rely on military and financial support from Washington.

Later, Hegseth explained that his statements should be perceived as "the reality of the situation" and not as final red lines.

"I am not the one that declares a red line or not. I work with the president, as we work through these issues, but we believed that it was useful just to speak some reality into the conversation," he said.

He also clarified that Ukraine is not excluded from the process of joining NATO in the future, but at this point it is "unlikely."

"It’s just a recognition that if you want if we want a negotiated peace, you want a ceasefire, you want an opportunity for enduring peace, realistically, right now that’s not in the cards — just like going back to the 2014 borders realistically right now is not in the cards. That’s not a that’s not a definitive value statement," the U.S. Defense Secretary concluded.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on February 12, Hegseth said that the U.S. is committed to a sovereign Ukraine, but a peace agreement that includes possible NATO membership is not a realistic outcome.

On February 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the return of nuclear weapons to Ukraine until the country is accepted into NATO.