Russia and Putin · 2024 campaign · № 89
Said he could 'understand' Russia's feeling about NATO membership for Ukraine, 13 days before taking office
“So, you know, a big part of the problem was Russia for many, many years, long before Putin, said, you could never have NATO involved with Ukraine. Now they've said that -- that's been like written in stone. And somewhere along the line Biden said no, they should be able to join NATO. Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep and I could understand their feeling about that.”
- Said
- , News conference at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida
- Subject
- NATO on Russia's doorstep
- Type
- Ukraine
- Topic
- Ukraine & Russia
- Era
- 2024 campaign
What happened
Asked at a January 7, 2025 news conference whether he would commit to a security guarantee for Ukraine under a ceasefire, Trump said Russia had insisted 'for many, many years' that Ukraine could never be in NATO, that Biden had said it should be able to join, and that he could 'understand their feeling about that.' He said he believed 'they had a deal and then Biden broke it.' Asked earlier whether he would keep supporting Ukraine during negotiations to preserve leverage, he said, 'I wouldn't tell you if that were the case.' Al Jazeera noted that NATO members have officially supported Ukraine's eventual membership since the 2008 Bucharest summit and that the Biden administration continued to support it.