Dendias also noted that the NATO Defence Ministers' Council will be attended by the new US Secretary of State Pete Hegseth

Speaking at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels, Hegseth said it would only be possible to establish a "durable peace" with a "realistic assessment of the battlefield". The US defence secretary also downplayed suggestions of Ukraine joining Nato and ruled out deploying US troops to Ukraine under any future security arrangements.

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, speaks with Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey during a group photo of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb.

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.The EU’s fight for relevance in the future of Ukraine could bear fruit in the future.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defence ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12,

European nations must provide the "overwhelming" share of funding for Ukraine, the new US Defence Secretary has said, as he signalled a drastic shift in Washington's position on the war. The BBC's Defence correspondent Jonathan Beale looks at the comments made by Pete Hegseth at a defence summit in Brussels,

There can be no negotiation "about Ukraine without Ukraine", the UK's defence secretary has warned. John Healey was speaking ahead of a Nato meeting of defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday after US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed to begin negotiations to end the war.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday said a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is "unrealistic." He also cast doubt on Ukraine's NATO membership prospects and suggested that Kyiv should consider a negotiated settlement with Russia backed by an international peacekeeping force.

Hegseth held talks with U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey, before a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Hegseth's predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin,

Hegseth held talks with U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey, before a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels.