Pete Hegseth makes it clear that Ukraine will not join NATO

Pete Hegseth: "The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops.

If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission, and should not be covered under Article V.

There must also be robust international oversight of the line of contact.

To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will be no U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine."