Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, warned Wednesday that the United States would “impose costs” on Russia if it failed to come to the table to secure peace with Ukraine, a firm stance that suggested a stronger backing for Kyiv than he had previously offered.
“If there is no path to peace in the short term, then the United States, along with our allies, will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression,” Mr. Hegseth said, speaking during a meeting focused on Ukraine at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.
“If we must take this step, the U.S. War Department stands ready to do our part in ways that only the United States can do,” he added. The administration has recently rebranded the Defense Department as the War Department.
Mr. Hegseth’s comments come as Ukraine’s allies seek to ramp up pressure on Russia. European Union nations are working to finalize further sanctions on Moscow, and they and Ukraine’s other allies have been pushing for the United States to join in on applying more economic pressure. And Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been asking for long-range Tomahawk missiles that could strike deep into Russian territory.
President Trump, who is scheduled to meet with Mr. Zelensky in Washington later this week, has hinted that he might be open to giving Ukraine access to such weapons.
“I might say, ‘Look, if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,’” Mr. Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
After appearing to waver on its support for Ukraine early in 2025 — and after Mr. Zelensky’s painful Oval Office meeting with Mr. Trump and other administration officials in February — the United States has in recent months taken actions that have reassured Europe that the White House will stand with Kyiv.
But the United States has also prodded its European allies to commit more money to their own defense, and it is European money funding the weapons Ukraine is now buying from the United States.
“We remain cleareyed about the fact that the most effective deterrence to Russian aggression are, number one, a lethal, capable and European-led NATO,” Mr. Hegseth said. He also cited a credible Ukrainian military.
He urged Europe to “translate goals into guns, commitments into capabilities.”
While he was returning from Wednesday’s meeting at NATO, Mr. Hegseth’s plane made an unscheduled landing in Britain, the Pentagon said. It attributed the stop to a crack in the plane’s windshield.
“The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe,” Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on social media.
Jeanna Smialek is the Brussels bureau chief for The Times.
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