The United States should not have made concessions to Russia ahead of peace talks by denying Ukraine NATO membership and agreeing that the country would have to give up some of its territory, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, The Guardian reported. 

Pistorius, who arrived for a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, expressed disappointment over U.S. President Donald Trump's statement on Wednesday that he was willing to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“In my opinion, it would be better to talk about Ukraine's possible NATO membership or possible territorial losses at the negotiating table,” Pistorius said.

His stance was echoed by his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu, who on his arrival at NATO headquarters warned against “peace through weakness” rather than the “peace through strength” formulation favored by Trump.

On Wednesday, Trump said he had spoken with Putin for more than an hour and that the two countries would begin talks to try to end the war in Ukraine.

In turn, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth earlier said that restoring Ukraine's pre-2014 borders was “unrealistic” and that it would not be allowed to join NATO.