The Kremlin is rejoicing
USA declares Europe a sideshow
US President Donald Trump has imposed a new era in security policy on Europe. In the past few hours, his administration has made it unmistakably clear that the USA's priorities will lie elsewhere in future. Moscow is openly celebrating the new course.
The USA is using Ukraine to rehearse its withdrawal from Europe. Concessions by Kiev are unavoidable - including the renunciation of NATO membership, according to the announcement from Washington. Furthermore, the Europeans are largely alone in their duty to support Ukraine against Russia and to secure peace militarily.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth presented the explosive ideas at a Ukraine meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, at which arms deliveries for Kiev were actually to be coordinated.
Trump moves closer to Putin
However, the date became a kind of ultimatum. At a summit in Washington last year, NATO had assured Ukraine that its path to membership was irreversible. Trump, however, sees things completely differently. He made a phone call with Vladimir Putin public and plans to work "closely" with the Kremlin in future.
A return to the Ukrainian borders before 2014 - i.e. before the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia - is also unrealistic from a US perspective. "Pursuing this illusory goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering," explained Secretary of Defense Hegseth. Russia currently controls almost a fifth of Ukraine's territory.
The USA is also not prepared to provide soldiers to secure a peace settlement. "A lasting peace for Ukraine must include solid security guarantees to ensure that the war does not flare up again," said Hegseth.
However, European and other troops would have to be deployed to provide such security guarantees. "No US troops will be sent to Ukraine." He ruled out a NATO mission.
USA wants a "lethal" NATO
"The United States remains committed to the NATO alliance and the defense partnership with Europe - no ifs, ands or buts," Hegseth emphasized. "But the United States will no longer tolerate an unbalanced relationship." NATO partners would have to invest significantly more in their defense.
Hegseth previously demanded a change of course from NATO. "NATO must be a stronger, more lethal force - not a diplomatic club," he wrote on Wednesday in the online service X. He published a photo of his arrival at the headquarters in Brussels. NATO sees itself as a purely "defensive alliance". The new Pentagon chief is on his inaugural visit to Brussels.
Muted voices from Europe
Trump's controversial defense minister did not face any major headwinds. On the contrary: according to Secretary General Mark Rutte, NATO agrees with Trump that there needs to be more burden-sharing between the USA and European allies when it comes to military aid for Ukraine.
The UK promised the USA that it would take on significantly more military responsibility. "We have heard his call to the European nations to get involved. We do and we will," said British Defense Secretary John Healey following Hegseth's comments. More would be done for European security and more for defense spending.
Only Paris offered some resistance. "It is up to the Ukrainians to define the parameters of a peace agreement", explained French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. There can be no just peace for Ukraine if the Europeans are not involved in the negotiations, said Barrot.
Moscow rejoices at new course
Hegseth's appearance met with approval in Moscow. "The Pentagon chief's statements could be a cold shower for Selensky", said the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament, Leonid Sluzki, according to the state news agency TASS. Hegseth's assessment of the situation on the battlefield was "quite realistic", praised Sluzki, who is also party leader of the nationalist-populist LDPR.
The new priorities of the US government made it possible to be cautiously optimistic. However, Sluzki rejected the proposal of a Western peacekeeping force to secure the front line. Even if the USA decided not to participate in this force, this would only lead to a freeze in the conflict and a possible rearmament of Kiev for a revenge, said the high-ranking Moscow politician.
No plans for US troop withdrawal from Europe
Hegseth played down fears of a withdrawal of around 100,000 US troops from Europe. There are "currently no plans in preparation to cut anything", he emphasized. However, the USA wanted to "review its military presence worldwide" in order to focus more on China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. Europe is now just a sideshow for the USA, as the past few hours have impressively demonstrated.
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