BREAKING: Trump rules out NATO entry for Ukraine

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump said that NATO membership for Ukraine isn’t "practical."

Trump was asked about the prospect of NATO membership for Ukraine, which has been embroiled in a war with neighboring Russia for nearly four years, to which he replied, "I don’t think it’s practical to have it, personally." The Biden administration had been a proponent of Ukraine joining NATO.

He noted comments made by his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, "Pete made a statement today saying that he thinks it’s unlikely or impractical. I think probably that’s true. I think long before President Putin, they said there’s no way they’d allow that. This has been going on for many, many years. They’ve been saying that for a long time, that Ukraine cannot go into NATO, and I’m okay with that." Trump also referenced Hegseth's comments on Ukraine possibly returning to pre-2014 borders, saying that it's "unlikely."

This comes after Hegseth said at a meeting of Ukraine's military allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday that Ukraine returning to pre-2014 borders and NATO membership for the country were "unrealistic."

"We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective," Hegseth said, later adding, "the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement," per Reuters.

Trump on Wednesday spoke with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on plans to end the war, with Trump saying that Zelensky wants "peace" and that Putin agreed to start negotiations.