Hegseth dismisses as "garbage" critique of US

7/3/2025 6:24

U.S. Defense Secretary

Pete Hegseth on Thursday dismissed as "garbage" accusations that

Washington had taken a pro-Russia stance, saying President

Donald Trump was pursuing a peaceful end to Russia's

three-year-old invasion of Ukraine.



Trump has piled pressure on Ukraine, pausing all U.S.

military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv, as his

administration pushes for a negotiated solution to the biggest

conflict in Europe since World War Two.



Trump and his advisors, including Hegseth, have also

declined to brand Russia as the aggressor.



"The press is interested in narratives. Our president is

interested in peace. So we will get characterized one way or

another: 'Oh, your stance is pro-Russia or pro-' ... it's all

garbage," Hegseth told reporters.



"The President got elected to bring peace in this conflict,

and he is working with both sides in a way that only President

Trump can ... to bring them to the table to end the killing."



Hegseth spoke alongside British Defence Secretary John

Healey, who aimed to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine during a

meeting at the Pentagon on Thursday.



"It's the detail of those discussions which are rightly

behind the scenes that the defense secretary and I will now

pursue this afternoon," Healey said.



Over the weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

praised Trump's "common sense" aim to end the war, while

accusing European powers which have rallied around Kyiv of

seeking to prolong the conflict.



Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had

acrimonious talks at the White House on February 28 but since

then the two sides have resumed work on a revenue-sharing

minerals deal.



At his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday,

Trump said he had received a letter from Zelenskiy in which the

Ukrainian leader said he was "ready to come to the negotiating

table as soon as possible."



Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Thursday he is

in discussions with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to

end hostilities with Russia and that a meeting is planned next

week with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.



"We're now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the

Ukrainians," Witkoff told reporters at the White House. He said

it would likely be in Riyadh or Jeddah.