President Donald Trump says Ukraine “could forget about” joining NATO military alliance as he prepares to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday.
Trump also said Wednesday that he hopes to soon speak face to face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine that began when Moscow invaded in February 2022.
The president declined to detail what concessions he would ask the two sides to make, but he underscored his administration’s position that Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO, the Western military alliance, is not tenable.
“NATO, you can forget about it,” Trump said. “I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
Trump said Wednesday that Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign a long-sought minerals deal that will closely tie the two countries together for years to come.
Trump made the announcement at the start of the first Cabinet meeting of his second term, hailing the deal as “a very big agreement.”