By Ryan Morgan
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he expects Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will have to make concessions to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as part of the final deal to bring an end to the fighting between their two countries.
Speaking with reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said if not for his 2024 election victory, the Russia-Ukraine war would continue and Putin would seek to take all of Ukraine.
Trump said the Ukrainians have fought hard but that the war would have been over much sooner if it hadn’t been for the weapons and equipment the United States has supplied to Kyiv’s forces throughout the war.
When asked what concessions Ukraine would likely have to make, Trump said: “I don’t want to tell you right now, but I can tell you that, NATO, you can forget about.
“That’s been, I think, that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
Russia has opposed Ukrainian membership in NATO.
Zelenskyy has sought a range of security guarantees from his various foreign backers, including Ukrainian membership in the NATO alliance, but the Trump administration has already signaled its opposition to the idea.
Earlier in his White House comments, Trump announced Zelenskyy would visit the White House on Friday, to finalize a deal in which the United States would gain access to Ukrainian natural resources such as rare earth minerals, as compensation for past and potential future U.S. support for Ukraine.
While Trump said Zelenskyy is ready to sign the deal for Ukraine’s natural resources, Zelenskyy has continued to share his reservations about the agreement.
Speaking with reporters at a press conference in Kyiv earlier on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president said there are no specific security guarantees from the United States.
“I wanted to have a sentence on security guarantees for Ukraine, and it’s important that it’s there,” Zelenskyy said.
As Trump spoke with reporters later on Wednesday, he said the deal he has in mind for Ukraine’s natural resources will benefit the embattled country.
“It’s a great deal for Ukraine too, because they get us over there, we’re going to be working over there,” Trump said. “We’ll be on the land. And you know, that way there’s sort of automatic security, because nobody’s going to be messing around with our people when we’re there.”
Zelenskyy remains adamant about receiving firm security guarantees from his foreign backers as part of any final peace settlement. Meanwhile, Russia remains wary of some of the security guarantees that have already been discussed, such as deployments of European peacekeeping forces to Ukraine to help enforce the final settlement.
Trump said earlier this week that he spoke with Putin about having European peacekeepers in Ukraine and said the Russian leader “has no problem with it.”
Since then, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia remains opposed to the presence of troops from NATO member nations within Ukraine.
