US senator calls Hegseth's statement about the impossibility of Ukraine regaining control of its full territory, including Crimea, a "rookie mistake"

Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker, a Republican, believes that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a "rookie mistake" when he said that Ukraine's return to the 2014 borders was "unrealistic." He said he was puzzled and concerned by this statement by the new head of the Pentagon.

The Republican senator said this in an interview with Politico on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday, February 14. He clarified that Hegseth had dropped some words, but not this phrase.

"Hegseth is going to be a great defense secretary, although he wasn’t my choice for the job. But he made a rookie mistake in Brussels and he’s walked back some of what he said but not that line," the Republican said.

Wicker noted that he did not know who wrote the speech for the American minister, although it could have been someone like pro-Russian journalist Tucker Carlson.

"Everybody knows … and people in the administration know you don't say before your first meeting what you will agree to and what you won't agree to," Wicker said.

Amid Trump's talks with Putin, Wicker has taken a more aggressive stance that is in line with traditional Republican views. He called Putin a "war criminal who needs to be in prison for the rest of his life" and said that Russia "absolutely should not" be readmitted to the G7, as Trump had previously hinted at such idea.

The politician also called on the United States to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine "until there is a ceasefire."

In addition, the senator disagreed with the US president's statement that the threat of NATO expansion provoked Russia to invade Ukraine.

"There are good guys and bad guys in this war, and the Russians are the bad guys. They invaded, contrary to almost every international law, and they should be defeated. And Ukraine is entitled to the promises that the world made to it," the politician said.

Wicker has been one of the main supporters of Ukraine aid in the Senate and in the last days has been pressuring the Biden administration to increase the amount of US weapons for the Ukrainian army. He wanted Biden to lift the restrictions that prevent Ukraine from using the weapons to strike deeper inside Russia and blamed the former president for the "slow-walking" deliveries.

Wicker has long viewed the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a test of US resolve, arguing that failure to arm Ukraine could force US troops to participate in future wars.

As reported, 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. In addition, he called the idea of returning Ukraine to pre-2014 borders "unrealistic."

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