Trump says Russia started war because Ukraine wanted to join NATO
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump has spoken out about Ukraine's desire to join NATO. He linked the process of the country's accession to the Alliance to the war, Time reports.
"I don’t think they’ll ever be able to join NATO. I think that's been—from day one, I think that's been, that's I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO," he said.
According to Trump, if this issue had not been raised, "there would have been a much better chance that it wouldn’t have started."
Ukraine's Accession to NATO
Ukraine expected to receive an official invitation to join NATO at the July 2024 summit in Washington, but this did not happen.
Kyiv continues to insist on a clear accession plan, but the Alliance has emphasized that membership can only be discussed after the war is over.
At the same time, in early March, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed extending NATO's Article 5 on collective security to Ukraine. She proposed this without the country's membership in the Alliance.
Talks about Ukraine's accession to NATO have been renewed after the United States proposed its peace plan to resolve Russia's war against Ukraine this week.
The seven-point document, in particular, provides for Ukraine's refusal to join NATO, as well as the official recognition of Crimea as Russian, and the freezing of the war at the current stage.
