Trump Rules Out Ukraine Regaining Crimea or Joining NATO Ahead of Washington Summit
On the eve of a major meeting in Washington involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders from seven European countries, former US President Donald Trump stated that Ukraine would neither reclaim Crimea nor be permitted to join the NATO alliance.
Trump shared his position in a forceful message on his social media platform Truth Social, emphasizing that Zelensky “can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.” He underlined that there would be “No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE.”
Crimea has been under Russian control since February 2014, when Russia annexed the peninsula in a move condemned internationally as illegal. The conflict escalated dramatically when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, sparking a devastating war that has now lasted over three years.
Trump’s stance aligns with a pragmatic approach to peace talks that his administration has favored since returning to office in January 2025. This approach considers restoring Ukraine’s borders to their pre-2014 status as a “realistic objective,” explicitly ruling out Ukraine’s NATO membership as part of any negotiated settlement.
Meanwhile, reports from the same period reveal a significant breakthrough in diplomatic discussions. Special US envoy Steve Witkoff disclosed that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to allow the United States and Europe to offer Ukraine security guarantees closely resembling NATO’s collective defense commitment under Article 5. This guarantee means that an armed attack against Ukraine would be treated similarly to an attack on NATO members, without formally admitting Ukraine to the alliance.
Witkoff called this concession “game-changing,” marking the first occasion Russia has accepted such security assurances. It represents a potential compromise to Putin’s long-standing opposition to Ukraine joining NATO. Additionally, Russia agreed to enact laws refraining from aggressive incursions into other European nations, aiming to reduce regional tensions.
The planned White House meeting, set for Monday after Trump’s recent talks with Putin in Alaska, is expected to refine these terms and explore pathways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has caused extensive human suffering and geopolitical upheaval.
As the international community watches closely, this evolving diplomatic dialogue signals a possible shift away from ongoing hostilities towards a framework that balances Ukrainian security needs with Russian security concerns, albeit at the cost of Ukraine’s ambitions for Crimea and NATO integration.
By avoiding Ukraine’s formal inclusion in NATO while granting robust security guarantees, the involved parties aim to create a new equilibrium framework to end the protracted conflict.