"Our position is unchanged": Umerov responds to Pentagon chief's statement on unrealistic NATO membership for Ukraine

Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has stated that our country's position on NATO and European Union membership remains unchanged. It is that Ukraine will become a part of both the North Atlantic Alliance and the EU.

The head of the Ukrainian defense ministry made this statement on February 12 following the 26th meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense in the Ramstein format. He commented on the statement by the new Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth that such a development was unrealistic.

"You have heard these statements for the last 33 years. We have to get used to any statements. Our position is always the same. We want to be a NATO country. We will be a NATO country," the Defense Minister said.

According to Umerov, Ukraine will also become a member of the European Union. He emphasized that Ukraine maintains "its defense capabilities and we are capable of doing so."

"We have our priorities, and we draw any conclusions together with our people," the minister added.

As a reminder, the new US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that Washington does not believe that Ukraine's membership in NATO can be the result of diplomatic negotiations. He also called the idea of Ukraine returning to the 2014 borders "unrealistic."

At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not believe that NATO's doors were really open to Ukraine. He said that even though the Alliance has always emphasized an open-door policy, Ukraine has not received an invitation.

According to him, NATO is the cheapest option for Ukraine, and the most expensive is to build NATO in Ukraine. At the same time, the United States, Hungary, and Germany emphasize that they do not see Ukraine as a member of the bloc.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine is "unlikely to return" all the territories seized by Russia, but suggested that the country could get some of them back. At the same time, he called the return to the 2014 borders "unbelievable."

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