Donald Trump Says ‘Crimea Will Stay with Russia’, Rejects Ukraine’s NATO Membership

Donald Trump, the US president, told Time magazine that the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine, under occupation, "will stay" with Russia as intensifications continue to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump lays blame on the war upon Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky, and "millions of deaths" on him, as he condemned him for not accepting the relinquishment of Crimea in a format whereby the conflict would be over."

“With that being said, will they be able to get it back? They’ve had their Russians. They’ve had their submarines there for long before any period that we’re talking about, for many years. The people speak largely Russian in Crimea. But this was given by Obama. This wasn’t given by Trump,” AP quoted Trump as saying in the interview.

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The US president went ahead and said Zelensky "understands" that Crimea will be in control of Russia in the future "and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time".

Trump on Ukraine joining NATO

The 78-year-old also envisioned that in the foreseeable future, there would be no way for Ukraine to join NATO, maintaining that Kyiv's desire to enter the military bloc was one of the catalysts for the war.

“I don’t think they’ll ever be able to join NATO,” Trump said in the interview.

“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. If that weren’t brought up, there would have been a much better chance that it wouldn’t have started,” Trump added.

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US proposals at talks

The Trump administration proposed, as part of discussions to conclude the Ukraine war, that Ukraine would not join NATO but "may pursue" EU membership, according to the proposals detailed in a Reuters report Friday.

The U.S. also extended what it called "de jure" recognition of Russian control over Crimea and "de facto" recognition of Russian control over the whole of Luhansk and portions of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson, all areas upon which Russia exerted its occupation following the outbreak of war in Ukraine in the southern and eastern regions.

Aside from a "permanent" ceasefire, other critical propositions include a signed agreement regarding economic cooperation, mineral extraction, financial restitution for full reconstruction of Ukraine, and removal of sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 due to this conflict."

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