𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Senior officers, veterans, politicians and ordinary soldiers have lashed out at Donald Trump’s plans to meet Vladimir Putin in peace talks that exclude Ukraine.

Ukrainian rap star Oleksandr Yarmak, who is also head of research and development in the country’s new unmanned aerial vehicle force, told The Independent: “Regardless of the plans of Trump and the murderous Putin, we will defend our country.

“If Russia is not punished for its bloody deeds, this world has no future.”

And British defence figures are said to reacted furiously to claims Ukraine will be forced to give up land to Russia in a peace deal, saying of the US administration’s stance: “The bastards are going to do this”.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has insisted other Nato allies spend more on their own defence.

He said that the US will expect allies “to spend more” on their own defence in their country and continent, and said the US can no longer “have the expectation of being the permanent guarantor.”

“I don’t think an unwillingness of Nato allies to invest in their own defence spending can be dismissed away by trying to point at the £900mn the US has invested around the globe including the Nato alliance,” he said.”

“Ultimately, we are very much committed to the Nato alliance and to our allies. But without burden sharing, without creating the right set of incentives for European countries to invest then we would be forced to attempt to be everywhere for everybody all the time.

“Which in a world of fiscal restraints is…just not reality.”

He added: “We will continue to spend robustly, but our expectation … is that you have to spend more. On your defence, for your country, on that continent. Understanding that the American military and the American people stand beside you as we have in Nato. But can’t have the expectation of being the permanent guarantor as I alluded to from what even Eisenhower observed post ww2.

“That shift has to happen”

The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Europe against treating America like a “sucker” by making it responsible for its defence.

“Make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into ‘Uncle Sucker,'” Hegseth told a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

He said that Europe should be primarily responsible for defence on the European continent and added later: “Europe has to spend more.”

When asked if he could be give a guarantee that Europe would be included in the negotiations and Ukraine would be able to reject a bad deal, US Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “The president will lead negotiations alongside the secretary of state and the national security advisor.

“We’ve played our role in talking to our Nato allies in what that would look like.”

He added that president Trump spoke to both Zelensky and Putin on Wednesday and said: “Any negotiations had will be had with both.”

When asked what leverage Ukraine will be left with US Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “I think it’s a cheap political point to say we’ve left all the negotiation cards off the table by recognising some realities on the ground.”

He added that Zelensky, Putin and Trump all “understood the realities on the ground”.

Peace talks to end the war in Ukraine could still be months away, the Kremlin has said, after Volodymyr Zelensky vowed he would not accept an agreement without Ukraine’s input.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday preparations for a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump could take months, but that both sides agreed the Saudi capital Riyadh was a suitable location.

He also said that while Ukraine would participate “one way or another” in conversations to end the war, there would be a separate US-Russian track to the talks.