Trump: Ukraine will not become part of NATO
Donald Trump has stated that Ukraine’s president could bring Russia’s war to an end “if he wants to,” but stressed that any settlement would mean “no Nato membership for Ukraine.”
Speaking just hours before hosting Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Trump also insisted that Crimea — which Moscow annexed illegally in 2014 — would not be returned to Ukraine, saying there would be “no getting back” the peninsula. His comments came after his meeting in Alaska with Vladimir Putin, where the U.S. president dropped earlier calls for a ceasefire and instead pressed for a long-term peace agreement.
Arriving in Washington late Sunday, Zelensky reiterated his plea for solid security guarantees from allies. A U.S. envoy said Putin had indicated openness to a possible Nato-style security arrangement for Ukraine, though the Russian leader has consistently resisted the idea of Ukraine joining the alliance outright.
Meanwhile, Russia launched new deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities just hours before the summit. In Kharkiv, at least seven people were killed when a drone hit an apartment building, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov. Three more deaths were reported in Zaporizhzhia. Zelensky condemned the attacks as a “demonstrative and cynical Russian strike” in a post on X, accusing Moscow of staging killings to pressure Ukraine and Europe while undermining diplomatic talks.
Trump, posting on Truth Social, claimed: “President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight. Remember how it started. No getting back Obama-given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!” The statement, however, ignores the fact that at least two Ukrainian servicemen were shot and killed by Russian forces during the seizure of Crimea in 2014, and the Ukrainian minesweeper Cherkasy also came under attack.
Before Trump’s return to office in January, Nato leaders had already affirmed that Kyiv was on an “irreversible path” toward eventual membership. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte and multiple European heads of state — including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — will join Zelensky in Washington for discussions on Ukraine’s future. It remains uncertain how many of them will attend the White House meeting.
Trump, for his part, hailed the gathering, writing: “Big day at the White House tomorrow. Never had so many European Leaders at one time. My great honor to host them!!!” Zelensky responded online that he was “grateful” for the invitation, emphasizing that all sides share “a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.” He also pressed for “effective security guarantees” from partners — not the kind Ukraine received in 1994 under the Budapest Memorandum, which failed to deter Russian aggression.