RT reported that on February 26, US President Donald Trump announced that Ukraine should give up its ambition to join NATO, admitting that this could be one of the reasons for the conflict with Russia.
Trump has previously repeatedly blamed the previous administration for supporting Kiev's participation in the US-led military bloc. President Trump affirmed that if he had remained in office at that time, the conflict would not have occurred.
This view was emphasized by Mr. Trump after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and continued to be emphasized at a press conference at the White House on February 26.
The statement that Ukraine should abandon its ambition to join NATO was made after Mr. Trump was asked which concession would appear in the peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev. The US president revealed that Russia needs to have some concession, but did not specify what those were.
Trump also approved Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's previous speech, which called for Ukraine to accept that restoring its territory to its pre- 2014 state was not feasible. Mr. Hegseth also emphasized that Kiev's NATO membership will no longer be an option.
On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed Mr. Trump's comments on NATO, recognizing that Mr. Trump understood Moscow's stance and expressed his desire for long-term peace.
Russia has repeatedly affirmed that the conflict arose as NATO expanded the country's borders and rejected all temporary ceasefire orders, stressing that only a long-term solution could end the war.
In another development on February 26, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington could not continue military subsidies to NATO.
Mr. Rubio argues that Washington is using the US people's tax money to finance the defense budget of its NATO allies when many member countries do not have their own military or their military is not capable of doing so because they have not invested for 40 years.
The current US government says some of the wealthiest member states in Western Europe spend only 1% to 1.5% of their GDP on defense. Mr. Rubio felt this was unfair to Washington.
