He also that Kyiv's goal of seeing its borders prior to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea was an "unrealistic objective."
Hegseth made clear as well that Washington's focus was no longer on supporting Europe or Ukraine's security, saying that European countries would have to provide the "overwhelming" majority of funding for Kyiv going forward.
DW spoke to defense analyst Rafael Loss from the European Council on Foreign Relations on what this seismic shift in Washington's stance towards Ukraine all means.
At the same time, Russia has rejected a proposal by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to swap Ukrainian-occupied territory in Russia for Ukrainian soil occupied by Moscow.
DW spoke to Andras Racz from the German Council on Foreign Relations about the significance of the offer from Zelenskyy.
