Trump confirms Ukraine won’t join NATO

"US President Donald Trump has backed his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments that Kiev must accept the reality that returning to pre-2014 borders is not feasible, while NATO membership for Ukraine is off the table.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels on Wednesday, Hegseth described Kiev’s goal of reclaiming all lost territories as “unrealistic,” and stressed the need for Ukraine to prepare for a negotiated peace, potentially supported by international troops, but without NATO membership as part of any agreement.
Hegseth rejected media accusations that the US was “betraying” Ukraine. “It’s just a cheap political point to say, oh, we’ve left all the negotiating cards off the table by recognizing some realities that exist on the ground,” he said.
When pressed on whether he had asked Hegseth to soften his remarks to preserve “bargaining chips,” Trump told journalists at the White House that he had not." RT