Ukraine ‘can forget’ about NATO – Trump

US President Donald Trump, during the first meeting of his cabinet in the White House, stated that Russian leader Putin will have to make concessions in the process of resolving the war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

Rubryka reports this with reference to the official broadcast of the meeting.

"Yes, he [Putin – ed.] will do it, he will have to. And I think – I believe – thanks to the fact that we were elected, this war will end," the US president noted in response to whether Putin will have to make concessions.

Trump called the Russian leader "very smart" and "very cunning."

He added that he had dealt with many really bad people and could not guarantee anything yet. However, he expressed hope that an agreement would still be concluded.

In response to the question of what concessions he wants to see, the head of the White House first of all indicated:

"NATO — you can forget about — I think that's why it all started."

The US President also noted that he has great respect for the Ukrainian fighters, but, in his opinion, the war would have ended very quickly without the weapons provided by America. In this context, he recalled that he was the first to give the Ukrainians real weapons—the Javelin system.

"I was the one who did it, but I want it to end," Trump emphasized.

He added:

"We will do everything possible to make the best deal for both sides."

According to the head of the White House, "we will do everything possible to make a good deal so that they can get as much back as possible" regarding Ukraine.

Donald Trump has officially confirmed that he plans to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky this Friday, February 28, to sign the agreement. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that he will meet with Trump.

For reference:

On February 18, negotiations were held in Saudi Arabia between delegations of the United States of America and the Russian Federation: the parties plan to discuss economic cooperation and the "issue of the Ukrainian settlement."

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Vladimir Putin's assistant Yuri Ushakov flew from the Russian Federation to Riyadh to meet with representatives of the United States.

Ukraine was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia, but the United States announced plans to hold separate bilateral meetings with Russia and Ukraine first, followed by joint negotiations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that representatives of the United States and Russia will meet in Istanbul on February 27. According to him, the meeting will discuss the resumption of embassies and the "removal of obstacles" in the work of diplomatic missions.