Trump: "Long before Putin, it was an understanding that Ukraine would not be going into NATO"

Dec 9, 2025 - 12:05

US President Donald Trump has said that there has always been an understanding that Ukraine would "not be going into NATO".

Source: Trump in an interview with Politico, a Brussels-based politics and policy news organisation, as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to Trump, the understanding that Ukraine would never become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance existed "long before" Vladimir Putin's rise to power.

Quote: "Long before Putin, uh, it was an understanding that Ukraine would not be going into NATO. This was long before Putin, in all fairness. And now they pushed ... you know, when, uh, Zelenskyy first went in and first met Putin, he said I want two things. I want Crimea back and we're gonna be a member of NATO. He didn't say it in a very nice way either."

More details: It is unclear which Zelenskyy-Putin meeting Trump is referring to. The only time the Ukrainian president met the Kremlin ruler in person was in Paris in 2019. Trump was not present at that meeting, and the potential for Ukraine to join NATO was not discussed.

Later in the interview, Trump described the Ukrainian president as "a great salesman".

Quote: "He got crooked Joe Biden to give him US$350 billion. And look what it got him. About 25% of his country is missing."

Background:

On 12 February, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out Ukraine joining NATO – a position later endorsed by Trump.
However, sources in NATO told European Pravda that Ukraine's path to Alliance membership remains irreversible.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha insisted that Ukraine will not accept Russia's demand to renounce NATO aspirations.