Conceding on NATO, territories for Ukraine was a mistake, German defence minister says

BERLIN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Germany's defence minister said it had been a mistake by U.S. President Donald Trump to take the bargaining chips of Ukrainian NATO membership and territorial concessions off the table, but said it was fair to expect Europe to take on a greater share of its defence burden.

Speaking on his arrival at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, Boris Pistorius said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "not budged an inch" on his negotiating position so it was not in the other side's interests to do so.

"I think that was clumsy," he said the U.S. administration's offer. "It would have been much better to talk about possible NATO membership and territorial changes at the negotiating table," he added.