It has been almost 100 days since Donald Trump assumed office as the U.S. President. But even after vowing for years that he would end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “in one day” if he becomes president, he has not managed to make even a single dent in stopping the loss of innocent lives that follows to this day. And now, he has effectively taken the step to incapacitate Ukraine further, which “satisfies” Russia as it aligns with their plans.
Just days ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that, according to the U.S.’ proposal at the Paris meeting with Ukrainian and European officials, Washington will probably not just recognize Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea but permanently ban Ukraine from joining NATO. This step by America, which just underlines Trump and his administration’s opposition to NATO granting Ukraine membership, has brought immense satisfaction to Russia, as shared by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
“We have heard from Washington at various levels that Ukraine’s membership in NATO is out of the question. Of course, this is something that satisfies us and aligns with our position that Ukraine should not be a NATO member.”
Now, America not backing Ukraine in its bid for NATO membership is not new. Trump has even blamed former president Joe Biden early in 2025 for provoking Russia’s attack on Ukraine by supporting the latter in its aspiration to become a NATO member. According to both Russia and Trump, Ukraine’s application to the organization is the major reason for the full-scale invasion.
“That’s been like written in stone. And Biden said, ‘No, they should be able to join NATO.’ Then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep. I could understand their [Russia’s] feelings about that.”
Now, this is where the history gets tricky. Ukraine’s stance on wanting NATO membership has always fluctuated, but it was never really strong in the first place. In fact, there was a time when Ukraine actively went against the idea. But things (and public perception) took a turn when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. It pushed Ukraine to reevaluate its earlier stance.
But it didn’t officially apply for NATO until September 2022, after the full-scale invasion in February 2022, which is understandable since if Ukraine were a NATO member, an attack against it would be deemed an act of aggression against all NATO members, which might be effective in freezing Russia’s future and continuing attacks.
But of course, when has all this ever been about what Ukraine did or wanted?
Published: Apr 21, 2025 10:52 am