Ahead of his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House, US President Donald Trump on Monday ruled out the possibility of Kyiv reclaiming Crimea from Moscow and urged his counterpart not to pursue Nato membership — a key sticking point with Russia.
Surprisingly, Trump’s remarks came even after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, told CNN that Moscow was willing to let the US and its European allies provide Nato-style security guarantees to Kyiv as part of a potential peace deal, describing the development as “game-changing.”
“We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,” Trump’s main negotiator, Steve Witkoff, who held hectic parleys in Moscow ahead of the recently concluded Alaska meeting with Vladimir Putin, told CNN.
Calling it a major breakthrough, Witkoff added that this was the first time Moscow had agreed to such a proposal.
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, also known as the Washington Treaty, is the basis of Nato’s principle of collective defence. It states that an armed attack against any of the alliance’s 32 members in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.
However, Witkoff’s assertions came crashing down when Trump ruled out Nato-style protection for Ukraine, even as European leaders flocked to the White House with Zelenskyy.
Trump further suggested that the decision to end the conflict lies with Zelenskyy, remarking that he “can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.”
Blaming former US President Barack Obama for allowing Russia’s annexation of Crimea “without a shot being fired” in 2014, Trump reiterated his stance on Truth Social, saying, “President Zelenskyy 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!!!”
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