The United States does not plan to send its troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees, but a lasting peace for Ukraine must include security guarantees backed by European and non-European troops. This was stated by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hagel during a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense (in the Ramstein format) in Brussels, UNN reports.
The United States does not believe that Ukraine's membership in NATO is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. Instead, any security guarantees should be backed by capable European and non-European troops. Peacekeeping troops in Ukraine should not be part of a NATO mission and should not be subject to NATO Article 5. No U.S. forces will be deployed in Ukraine as part of the security guarantee to further ensure effective diplomacy and lower energy prices
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hagesse saidthat returning Ukraine to its borders by 2014 is unrealistic and that such a goal would only prolong the war even further.