Trump says Crimea will remain Russian, NATO aspirations triggered Ukraine war

He shared this view in an interview with Time marking 100 days of his presidency.

When asked about his promise to end the war in Ukraine on his first day in office, Trump said he meant it “figuratively” and as an exaggeration to make a point.  

“Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended,” he added.

Trump again claimed that Russia’s war against Ukraine would have never happened if he had been president.  

“It's Biden's war. It’s not my war. I have nothing to do with it. I would have never had this war. This war would have never happened. Putin would have never done it. This war would have never happened,” Trump said.

The U.S. president expressed confidence that Putin could agree to a peace deal. 

 “I think with me as president, there's—possible, if very probable. If somebody else is president, no chance,” he said, adding that he is the only one who could negotiate such an agreement.

  “And I think that because of me, I believe I'm the only one that can get this thing negotiated. And I think we’re a long way. We've had very good talks, and we're getting very close to a deal. And I don't believe anybody else could have made that deal,” Trump said.

When asked whether Ukraine could become a NATO member, Trump said he didn’t think so. He also blamed talk of NATO membership for triggering the war.  

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

Trump also stated that as part of a negotiated peace, Putin would likely keep about 20% of Ukrainian territory, and Crimea would remain with Russia.  

“Well, Crimea went to the Russians. It was handed to them by Barack Hussein Obama, and not by me. 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. Would it have been taken from me like it was taken from Obama? No, it wouldn't have happened. Crimea, if I were president, it would not have been taken,” Trump stated.

“If Crimea will stay with Russia—we have to only talk about Crimea because that's the one that always gets mentioned. Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time. It's been with them long before Trump came along. Again, this is Obama's war. This is a war that should have never happened. I call it the war that should have never happened,” he emphasized.

In other remarks, Trump said he is proud of mobilizing Europeans to contribute more to their own security and advancing peace between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors during his first term. He added that he hopes to make further progress on that front during an upcoming trip to the Middle East.

• U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have realized that Russia is the biggest obstacle to achieving peace in the Russian-Ukrainian war.