As reported by RBK-Ukraine, this was stated by the head of the Pentagon at a press conference. TSN writes about it. This information is also provided by Kontrakty.UA.
The U.S. Secretary of Defense pointed out that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin "responds to strength." In 2014, he invaded Crimea, which occurred "not during Donald Trump's presidency."
"For four years, there was no Russian aggression from 2016 to 2020. In 2022, Vladimir Putin launched aggression against Ukraine. Again, not when President Trump was in office," Hegseth added.
Therefore, as the head of the Pentagon noted, any assumptions that Trump is engaged in anything other than negotiations from a position of strength are incorrect.
"We have the ideal dealmaker at the table from a position of strength to deal with both Vladimir Putin and Zelensky (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - ed.). No one will get everything they want," Hegseth believes.
He expressed hope that a solid peace between Ukraine and Russia could be achieved through the strength of Europeans.
By the way, you can read more about Pete Hegseth's statements regarding Ukraine in the RBK-Ukraine article.
What happened from 2016 to 2020
Recall that in 2015, the leaders of Germany, France, Ukraine, and Russia signed the "second Minsk agreements," which stipulated a ceasefire.
However, despite this, local skirmishes continued from 2016 to 2020.
Additionally, during the period from 2016 to 2020, Russians carried out several provocations - their combat aviation approached the borders of Ukraine and conducted flights over temporarily occupied Crimea.
In 2018, vessels of the FSB Border Service of Russia attacked Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait.