"Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time," Trump said, repeating his claim that former US President Barack Obama effectively "gave" Russia the Black Sea territory it seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said his country will never accept Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Trump also told Time he believes Ukraine will never join NATO. "I don't think they’ll ever be able to join NATO," he said.
"I think that's been—from day one, I think that's been, that's I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO," Trump said in the interview.
"If that weren't brought up, there would have been a much better chance that it wouldn’t have started," he added.
Kyiv under pressure to cut peace deal
Trump has escalated public pressure on Kyiv as his administration struggles to broker a ceasefire.
On Thursday, however, he issued a rare rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin after missile-and-drone strikes on Kyiv killed at least 12 people.
"Vladimir, STOP! 5,000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the peace deal DONE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
US envoy meets Putin amid stalled talks
White House envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow on Friday—their second meeting this month and fourth since February—accompanied by Kremlin foreign-policy aide Yuri Ushakov.
The White House hopes the diplomatic effort can revive negotiations, but senior officials warn US military aid could be curtailed if no agreement is reached soon.
Ukraine and European allies reject any settlement that rewards territorial conquest.
Zelensky has called ceding occupied land a red line and said Kyiv accepted a US ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, yet Russian attacks have continued.
Washington has proposed easing sanctions on Russia as part of efforts to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, according to reports last week.
Moscow has maintained that Kyiv must recognise the annexation of four Ukrainian regions by Russia and give up its aspirations to join NATO—conditions Ukraine has repeatedly rejected.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
Friday is day 1,156 of Russia's war on Ukraine.
(jh/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, time.com, AP