Peacekeepers in Ukraine should not be covered under NATO’s Article Five

Any peacekeeping force deployed to Ukraine should not be part of a NATO mission and be covered under NATO’s Article Five, US Secretary of Defense Pete 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 they should not be covered under Article Five," he pointed out at a meeting of a Western contact group coordinating weapons supplies to Kiev.

The Pentagon chief also stressed that the US would not send troops to Ukraine.