It looks as though Donald Trump is going to keep one of his most important election pledges - to end the West's proxy war in Ukraine

NO NATO membership, NO return to pre-2014 borders and NO more relying on US for the majority of its military funding: Trump's defence secretary delivers bombshell blow to Ukraine

Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO, there will be no return to the old borders to force Russian-speaking communities back under Zelensky's oppression. And, if European liberals want to continue the war, they and their taxpayers will have to pay for it, because America will no longer front the lion's share of aid to Ukraine. That's what just emerged in a devastating blow to Kyiv.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Washington will 'no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship' with its allies, adding that 'Europe must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine'.

He added that the United States will not deploy troops to Ukraine to uphold any peace deal with Russia - one of the key security guarantees requested by Zelensky.

Hegseth also said that it was unrealistic for Ukraine to expect to return to a pre-war state, saying any peace process 'must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective'.

'The United States remains committed to the NATO alliance and to the defence partnership with Europe, full stop,' he said. 'But the United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency.'

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