WASHINGTON/KYIV - US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ruled out Ukraine's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as part of a negotiated settlement to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Delivering opening remarks at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Hegseth said it is Washington's stance that security guarantees for Ukraine "should not be provided through NATO membership."

"The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement," Hegseth said. "Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops. If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission and not covered under Article 5. There also must be robust international oversight of the line of contact."

"To be clear," he added, "as part of any security guarantee, there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine."

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In addition, the secretary called it an "unrealistic objective" that the borders between Ukraine and Russia should be revert to what they were before Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

"We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective," Hegseth said. "Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering."

Hegseth, a television host-turned-secretary of defense, gave the remarks as President Donald Trump's administration is making a full-throttle effort to broker peace between Kiev and Moscow, between which the full-blown conflict will soon mark the third anniversary.

Trump said Tuesday he is sending US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to Ukraine for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"This War MUST and WILL END SOON," Trump said on social media platform Truth Social, without mentioning when Bessent will make the trip. 

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Also on Wednesday, visiting US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent handed over to Zelensky a draft partnership agreement between the two countries, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported.

"I really want our team to study this document, and we will do everything to review and sign this document as soon as possible," Zelensky told reporters after his meeting with Bessent in Kiev.

Describing the conversation with Bessent as "constructive," Zelensky said their discussions covered various topics, including security guarantees and mineral resources.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne reported that the draft partnership agreement envisages the US access to Ukraine's rare earth materials worth about 500 billion US dollars in exchange for Washington's aid.