Trump blames Ukraine for Russian invasion as he gives 5-word verdict on Crimea’s future | World | News
Donald Trump has blamed Ukraine for starting the war with Russia and made a shocking claim regarding the future of Crimea. The US president has repeatedly been critical of Kyiv and Volodymyr Zelensky since beginning his second term in office in January. Now, in a new interview, he claimed that Ukraine‘s desire to join NATO kick-started the war, despite Russian forces being the ones to begin the invasion.
He told TIME: “I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO.” The Republican then dealt a further blow to Mr Zelensky, dashing his hopes of regaining Crimea with a five-word statement. He said: “Crimea will stay with Russia.” In 2014, the peninsula was occupied and illegally annexed by Russian forces. They occupied parliament, government buildings, and other strategic sites.
The Russian-organised Republic of Crimea then declared independence from Ukraine after an illegal and internationally unrecognised referendum.
Despite the annexation, most countries continue to recognise Crimea as part of Ukraine.
However, Mr Trump has maintained that the peninsula was “lost years ago” and “is not even a part of discussion” in peace talks.
He previously questioned in a message he shared on Truth Social: “If [Ukraine] wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it 11 years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?”
Mr Zelensky, on the other hand, has expressed his desire to regain the territory, making it a crucial part of his peace plan.
He said: “There’s nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution.” The constitution states that Ukraine‘s sovereignty “extends throughout its entire territory” which “within its present border is indivisible and inviolable”.
During his visit to South Africa, the Ukrainian president made an apparent reference to Crimea, suggesting that he would not accept the US’s recognition of it as Russian.
He said: “We do everything that our partners have proposed, only what contradicts our legislation and the constitution we cannot do.”
The US approving Russia‘s illegal annexation of Crimea would be a red line for Ukraine and set a shocking precedent for other countries around the Black Sea that already fear Russian interference.
