A diplomatic spat has broken out after Pete Hegseth was accused of wearing a pro-Russian tie to meet Volodymyr Zelensky.
The US secretary of war wore a white, blue and red striped tie during the Ukrainian president’s visit to the White House on Friday, leading to observations that he was matching the Russian flag.
Tass, the Russian state-owned news agency, said Mr Hegseth “stood out” from his colleagues by wearing a “tie in the colours of the Russian tricolor”.
“Hegseth’s tie, featuring bold white, blue, and red stripes arranged in the same order as on the Russian national flag, stood out among the otherwise restrained attire of the US delegation,” it wrote.
“While the United States’ own flag includes the same colours, the sequence and design made the choice particularly striking. Trump and the other officials opted for plain, solid-colored ties.”
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s economic envoy, stoked controversy further by sharing an image of Mr Hegseth’s tie captioned with the Russian flag – widely interpreted as tacit approval.
Ron Filipkowski, the editor of Meidas Touch, a Left-wing media company, wrote on X: “Looks like the Russians like his Russia tie. It’s not red-white-blue either. It’s red-blue-white. Like the Russian flag. For a meeting with Zelensky.”
However, JD Vance, the US vice-president, attempted to quell the speculation, responding on the same social media platform: “Or maybe he was wearing the colours of America.”
It was noted that Mr Hegseth did have an American flag pocket square in his suit jacket.
The sartorial choice was made amid fears Mr Trump’s position on Ukraine has shifted after he delayed providing Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep inside Russia.
Instead, Steve Witkoff, the US president’s lead negotiator, pushed Mr Zelensky to hand over the entire Donetsk region to Russia in order to end the war in Ukraine, it has emerged.
On Saturday, Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said the visit “had not gone as Zelensky hoped”.
Mr Hegseth is known for his bold fashion choices, usually featuring the US flag. He has previously been seen wearing socks sewn with the stars and stripes and proudly shows off the flag emblazoned on the lining of his suit jackets. He has not responded to the controversy over his tie.
Gary Kasparov, the Russian chess grandmaster and staunch critic of the Kremlin, wrote on X: “The problem with the Trump administration isn’t their Russian ties, but their ties with Russia.”
Mr Hegseth has previously called for Ukraine to accept losing territory to end the war.
However, during a meeting with European leaders last week, he warned that the US will “impose costs on Russia” if it does not seek to end the war, in his strongest criticism yet of Moscow.
