US President Donald Trump has stated that it is “impossible” for Crimea to return to Ukraine or for the country to join NATO. In an interview with Fox & Friends on Tuesday, Trump revealed that Kiev had approached the US-led military bloc to seek help in trying to get the peninsula back.
According to Trump, Ukraine’s initial requests to the US included getting Crimea back and becoming a member of NATO. However, the US president firmly stated that both of these requests are impossible to fulfill. Trump explained that Russia has always been opposed to having “the enemy” on its border, a sentiment that dates back to the Soviet Union era.
The peninsula, which is predominantly populated by ethnic Russians, voted to join the Russian Federation in 2014 following a Western-backed coup in Kiev. This move brought a nationalist Ukrainian government to power, which Moscow has cited as one of the fundamental reasons for the current conflict. The Russian government has also pointed to the abuse of Russian-speaking Ukrainians by the Kiev regime and Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO as key factors.
Despite Trump’s repeated suggestions of “land swaps” to end the hostilities in Ukraine, he has maintained that Kiev will not regain control of Crimea. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had previously refused to discuss territorial concessions, citing the country’s constitution, which prohibits the surrender of territories or trading of land. However, Zelensky did acknowledge that land swaps were discussed during recent talks at the White House.
The latest developments come after a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where the two leaders discussed resolving the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has long insisted that any peace deal must eliminate the core causes of the conflict, including Ukraine’s NATO ambitions and its refusal to recognize the current territorial realities.
Specifically, Russia has called for Ukraine to renounce its NATO membership ambitions, demilitarize, and acknowledge the status of Crimea and other disputed regions, including Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye, which voted to join Russia in 2022. The ongoing conflict has significant implications for regional stability and the global balance of power, as the international community continues to seek a resolution to the crisis.
