Hegseth dismisses as "garbage" critique of US stance on Russia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday dismissed as "garbage" accusations that Washington had taken a pro-Russia stance, saying President Donald Trump was pursuing a peaceful end to Russia's three-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

Trump has piled pressure on Ukraine, pausing all U.S. military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv, as his administration pushes for a negotiated solution to the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

Trump and his advisors, including Hegseth, have also declined to brand Russia as the aggressor.

"The press is interested in narratives. Our president is interested in peace. So we will get characterized one way or another: 'Oh, your stance is pro-Russia or pro-' ... it's all garbage," Hegseth told reporters.

"The President got elected to bring peace in this conflict, and he is working with both sides in a way that only President Trump can ... to bring them to the table to end the killing."

Hegseth spoke alongside British Defence Secretary John Healey, who aimed to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine during a meeting at the Pentagon on Thursday.

"It's the detail of those discussions which are rightly behind the scenes that the defense secretary and I will now pursue this afternoon," Healey said. Over the weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised Trump's "common sense" aim to end the war, while accusing European powers which have rallied around Kyiv of seeking to prolong the conflict.

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had acrimonious talks at the White House on February 28 but since then the two sides have resumed work on a revenue-sharing minerals deal.

At his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump said he had received a letter from Zelenskiy in which the Ukrainian leader said he was "ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible."

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Thursday he is in discussions with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end hostilities with Russia and that a meeting is planned next week with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.

"We're now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians," Witkoff told reporters at the White House. He said it would likely be in Riyadh or Jeddah.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; additional reporting by Sachin Ravikumar in London; editing by Diane Craft)