Russia and Putin · 2016 campaign · № 15
Said Putin is 'not going into Ukraine' and that the people of Crimea 'would rather be with Russia'
“He's not going into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down and you can put it down, you can take it anywhere you want.”
- Said
- , Interview on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos
- Subject
- Crimea
- Type
- Ukraine
- Topic
- Ukraine & Russia
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
Stephanopoulos replied, 'Well, he's already there, isn't he?' and Trump said, 'OK, well, he's there in a certain way, but I'm not there yet.' Asked about his statement that he might recognize the annexation of Crimea, he said: 'I'm going to take a look at it. But, you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also.' The next day he tweeted that he had meant Putin would not go into Ukraine 'if I am President. Already in Crimea!' and told Sean Hannity, 'I mean, Crimea is gone.' At a rally in Columbus, Ohio that day he asked: 'You wanna have World War III to get it back?' The United States and the European Union had refused to recognize the 2014 annexation.
Sources
- Interview: Donald Trump Is Interviewed on ABC News' This Week - July 31, 2016
- Tweets of August 1, 2016
- Interview: Sean Hannity Interviews Donald Trump on His Fox News Show - August 1, 2016
- Speech: Donald Trump in Columbus, OH - August 1, 2016
- Trump to look at recognizing Crimea as Russian territory, lifting sanctions