The US Secretary of Defence sought to clarify that his country was invested in peace after Trump explosively announced talks were to begin after speaking with Putin.
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00:00U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denied that the U.S. is betraying Ukraine, following
00:09comments that Ukraine should not join NATO and that it's up to Europe to protect itself
00:13and Ukraine from Russian aggression.
00:17Ahead of a meeting with NATO allies in Brussels on Thursday, he reiterated his call that Ukraine
00:22should prepare for a negotiated peace settlement and abandon hope to gain back all its territory
00:27from Russia.
00:28There is no betrayal there.
00:31There is a recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested
00:36in peace, a negotiated peace.
00:40As President Trump has said, stopping the killing.
00:43And so that will require both sides recognizing things they don't want to.
00:48In response to the announcement from the Trump administration, NATO Chief Mark Rutte urged
00:53the group's European allies to significantly ramp up their own defense spending.
00:58We have to ramp up defense spending because we know we cannot protect ourselves four or
01:04five years from now if we don't.
01:06And also we need to ramp up defense spending because it is clear that U.S. rightly requires
01:12us to do more here on the European side and the Canadian side of NATO.
01:17It's only fair.
01:18It's only sensible.
01:19Rutte and several other NATO allies are insisting that Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out
01:24of any peace negotiations, after Trump signaled that he would hold face-to-face talks soon
01:30with Russian President Vladimir Putin.