Moscow, Russia – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday praised U.S. President Donald Trump for stating that previous U.S. support for Ukraine’s bid to join the NATO military alliance was a major cause of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Trump asserted that Russia could not have allowed Ukraine to join NATO and blamed former Democratic President Joe Biden for allegedly changing the U.S. position on NATO membership for Ukraine.
“He is the first, and so far, in my opinion, the only Western leader who has publicly and loudly said that one of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the impudent line of the previous administration to draw Ukraine into NATO,” Lavrov told lawmakers. “No Western leaders had ever said that, but he had said it several times. This is already a signal that he understands our position when President (Vladimir) Putin,” Lavrov added.
During talks with the United States in Riyadh on Tuesday, Russia demanded that NATO scrap its 2008 promise to one day grant Ukraine membership in the U.S.-led alliance. Russia also dismissed the idea that NATO member forces could act as peacekeepers under any potential ceasefire deal.
