New Hampshire senator on U.S. aid to Ukraine

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about U.S. aid to Ukraine.

According to Brennan, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made comments regarding negotiations with Russia, with Hegseth saying "returning to Ukraine's pre 2014 borders is unrealistic" and suggested "maybe the east and another part of Ukraine and Crimea will be taken by Russia."

This prompted Brennan to ask Shaheen why she thinks there was a plan "to give consessions" before talks began, to which Shaheen said:

"I think it was a mixed message coming from the administration. On the one hand, you heard Secretary Hegseth saying they were going to take NATO off the table, that Ukraine needed to give up territory, and on the other hand, you had Vice President Vance yesterday, or at the conference, saying that everything should be on the table, including the possibility of putting boots on the ground in Ukraine. So it's a mixed message. I hope that the upshot of that is that we are going to do everything we can to support Ukraine."

Brennan then followed up by asking Shaheen if her hands are tied "in terms of what Congress can do," or are some of her Republican colleagues "willing to put something perhaps in an upcoming defense bill, for example, that might help Ukraine," and Shaheen replied:

"I think that's one option. One of the things that we're talking about doing right away is making some statements on the the repossession of assets by Russia that are held in the United States and in Europe, and the importance of having those assets go to Ukraine to help both with the execution of the military conflict, but also to think about rebuilding.  Again, there's bipartisan support, there was bipartisan support for the bill, and there's bipartisan support to continue to try and ensure that those assets from Russia get repaid to Ukraine, because Russia is really the aggressor here, and we need to hold Vladimir Putin accountable."

During the interview, Brennan and Shaheen talked about Congress's role in President Trump's plan for Ukraine, with Brennan asking if Congress needs to be a part of approving a deal President Trump says he wants to take possession of "some of the critical minerals that Ukraine has inside their territory," saying the president wants to use it "as sort of repayment for what the U.S. has spent on weapons," to which Shaheen responded saying:

"I think there are some benefits to having the United States have some investments in Ukraine. That's part of what a critical minerals deal would do. It's not at all clear who- who has possession of those critical minerals. Some of them are in the eastern part of Ukraine, where Russia controls the territory, some of them are owned by private- actually, oligarchs. There are some oligarchs who own a number of those critical mineral sites. So I think those are details that have not yet been worked out, and I have not seen the agreement that's been put in front of President Zelenskyy."

To watch Brennan's full interview with Shaheen, click here.