Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday praised former US President Donald Trump for stating that previous US support for Ukraine’s bid to join NATO was a major cause of the war in Ukraine.
Trump claimed that Russia could not have permitted Ukraine to join NATO and blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for allegedly changing the US stance on Ukraine’s NATO membership.
“He is the first, and so far, in my opinion, the only Western leader who has publicly and loudly said that one of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the impudent line of the previous administration to draw Ukraine into NATO. No Western leaders had ever said that, but he had said it several times. This is already a signal that he understands our position when President (Vladimir) Putin,” Lavrov stated.
After discussions with the United States in Riyadh on Tuesday, Russia demanded that NATO revoke its 2008 promise to eventually grant Ukraine membership in the US-led alliance and dismissed the idea that NATO member forces could serve as peacekeepers under a ceasefire agreement.
