By RT – 3 minutes read time
Russia’s intervention in Ukraine was triggered by the irresponsible and provocative rhetoric of US President Joe Biden and his administration about Kiev joining NATO, Donald Trump has said.
Trump, who is seeking a rematch with Biden for the presidency in November, made the comments during a conversation on foreign policy with ‘All-In’ podcast co-host David Sacks on Thursday.
“For 20 years, I heard that if Ukraine goes into NATO, it’s a real problem for Russia. I’ve heard that for a long time. And I think that’s really why this war started,” Trump said.
The Republican presidential candidate pointed out that there had been no talk about armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine when he was in the White House, but as soon as Biden replaced him, things began to deteriorate.
“I thought that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin may be – well, look, he’s a good negotiator, I thought he was going to be doing that for negotiation purposes,” Trump said. “Then all of a sudden, they attacked, and I said, ‘what’s going on here?’”
According to the former president, one of the key issues was the rhetoric coming out of the White House.
“Biden was saying all of the wrong things. And one of the wrong things he was saying [was] ‘no, Ukraine will go into NATO’,” Trump said.
Sacks pointed out that in January 2022 or thereabouts, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Moscow that Ukraine would join NATO and that Washington thought it was OK to put nuclear weapons there. “So no wonder the Russians hit the roof,” he noted.
“Well, let’s say you were running Russia. You wouldn’t be too happy,” Trump replied. “And that’s always been off the table. It’s always been understood that that was a no-no,” he added, addressing Kiev’s potential NATO membership.
NATO ‘moving into Asia’ – Putin
Floating the idea of Ukraine in NATO was “very provocative,” Trump said. “And now it’s even more provocative. I hear routinely they’re now talking about Ukraine entering NATO. And now I hear France wants to go in and fight. Well, I wish them a lot of luck!”
Putin has specifically pointed to Western statements about Ukraine’s possible membership in the US-led bloc as a security threat Moscow could not ignore. Ukraine’s neutrality has been one of the non-negotiable Russian conditions for the conflict to end.
NATO has argued that its “open door” policy is essential and that no one had the right of veto over it, but also that its expansion eastward was not the cause of the conflict.
In an interview with Time magazine earlier this month, Biden claimed that the US is “the strongest nation” because of NATO expansion, and that he told Putin he would get “NATOization of Finland” instead of “the Finlandization of NATO” during their June 2021 summit in Switzerland.Russia’s intervention in Ukraine was triggered by the irresponsible and provocative rhetoric of US President Joe Biden and his administration about Kiev joining NATO, Donald Trump has said.
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17 responses to “Trump points to ‘cause’ of Ukraine conflict”
For anyone with information and moderate intelligence, it has been clear that it was NATO expansion, pushed by The Empire, that precipitated the Russian takeover of Crimea and the eastern oblasts. This is not in question. This is fact.
The US is not that exceptional no matter how often aspiring US Politicians repeatedly tell Americans how exceptional they are.
After the failed CIA BAY OF PIGS invasion of Cuba in 1961, the Cubans knew the Americans were out to destroy them.
At the same TIME, the US deployed US missiles aimed at Russia in Turkey, minutes away from Soviet Russian territory. The Soviets, just as Americans would if the roles were reversed, were not too pleased with that US aggressive act.
Those Historical FACTS are what moved the Cubans and Russians to recognize their common interests. With Soviet Russian missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from the US homeland, Cuba saw the presence of those missiles a DETERRENT, so the US would not attempt another illegal invasion of Cuba.
For the Soviets, it restored ‘THE BALANCE OF POWER’ with US missiles in NATO’S Turkey, so close to Russia.
It was the US that FREAKED! Within the Rules of International Law, as Sovereign Nations, Cuba and the Russians had every Legal Right to take the mutual defensive actions to perceived US aggression they did.
It was the US that took the 1st ILLEGAL ACT OF WAR with the illegal Blockade of Cuba. The Historical record is some in the US Military wanted a 1st strike! Just bomb the missile sites in Cuba, a guaranteed sure Path to a NUCLEAR WWIII.
As the Nightly News reported, Day by Day, the Soviet ships with more missiles on them were crossing the Atlantic heading for Cuba, the People were like walking on eggshells waiting with bated breath, if this was it? It would be WWIII if the Soviets would have rammed the illegal US Naval Blockade and the masses knew and understood the consequences. I was 18 going to University in Montreal then.
TODAY is the 32nd Day of my 81st Year counting UP, not DOWN, I remember the Atmospheres then as if it was just last week because those Atmospheres are building up DAY BY DAY, and the People seem totally oblivious to what’s at stake TODAY, unlike the 1962 Generation.
It’s a good thing President Kennedy realized the danger, the 1962 Cuban Missile could result in Nuclear Superpowers AT WAR. It would be a Century late, but it would have been THE WAR TO END ALL WARS!
There were negotiations going on behind the scenes. The White House exercised DIPLOMACY with the Soviet Russians and a deal was worked out before the Soviet freighters encountered the US BLOCKADE. There was a collective Sigh of Relief by most of the People!
The US committed not to attempt another invasion of Cuba and remove their US missiles from Turkey aimed at Russia.
The Kennedy’s asked the Soviets to keep quiet for a few months about removing the US missiles from Turkey so Militaristic Neo-con Americans wouldn’t see the US making a Quid pro quo accommodation with the Soviets just to save Face and this Material World from suicidal self-destruction.
Seeing it up close and personal, President Kennedy was determined to find some way to Peace with Russia and it cost him his life.
In June 1963, Kennedy uttered the essential truth that can keep us alive today: “Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy–or of a collective death-wish for the world.”
There are NO DIPLOMATIC talks with the Russians in the Biden White House while there is ESCALATION DAY BY DAY in the Economic-Military WAR the US dominated NATO wants Ukraine in NATO so there would be US boots an the ground and US Missiles right on Russia’s Border.
If that was bad for the US in 1962, the very same thing happening in reverse Russia rightly sees as an EXISTENTIAL THREAT and will act accordingly.
Good one!
Even Master Trump and Nigel Farage in England had to admit it, specially Farage that was far more descriptive of the American “Ukrainian project”.
Right. But there are two difficulties with Trump. The first is that there is no way to know what he would do if elected. Would he get the US (and hence NATO, which seems to be a “country” by now, instead of a treaty organization) out of the Ukraine debacle and make a deal with Russia concerning a new common defense framework, as the Russians so sensibly proposed in 2021 and which is the only path to long-term peace in Europe? Or would he attempt to preserve the US as the aggressive bully that it is and as the purveyor of forever wars. He could conceivably do the moral and sensible thing—unlike Obama, who made a laughingstock of the Norwegian Nobel Committee by starting seven bully wars, Trump started none. On the other hand, his administration was not run by him, but by the bloody-handed collection of neocons that surrounded him; and that could happen again. Those of his avowed intentions that made any sense turned out to be mere hot air. And the second is that—as he’s idiotically wedded to Cushner and Adelson (scumbags of the worst order), and would be saddled with a Congress that is bought and paid for by AIPAC, he will continue US complicity in the Palestinian genocide and the illegal settlements of Occupied Palestine. He took several big steps in that direction while in office. There, he expressed not a single aspiration in a good direction, and his actions were criminal. It’s predicted that his upcoming “debate” with Joe Biden will amount to nothing more than a bragging match about which of them loves Israel more. I don’t know that this will impress even his MAGA supporters by the way, except for the lunatic mid-western “Christian Zionists” who long for Armageddon and the End Times. But I’m in doubt that Trump has even the tiniest clue about the Palestine issue. If he were capable of reading a serious book, he could read Chomsky’s “The Fateful Triangle” and get some idea; and if he were to have real control of the presidency, he could perhaps show real, constructive statesmanship. But he can’t, won’t have, and won’t. So one has to hope that neither Trump nor Biden—nor anyone likely to replace them from either half of the uniparty—will win the presidency.
It’s hard to know with Trump. As a Canadian watching the 2016 Election, from what I saw, Trump was a serial LIAR and the most egocentric megalomaniac I ever saw seeking Public Office. I also saw the only policy he was preaching was Nihilism!
It was Trump that started supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons. Trump also put Economic Sanctions on any European Construction Company that worked on completing the remaining miles in NATO controlled waters of the Nord stream II pipeline that would have resulted in an Economic win for Russia and Germany.
For all the US Propaganda Trump is in Putin’s pocket, I almost certain Putin wasn’t pleased with Trump for doing that.
Watching from CanaDa, I don’t see many good prospects with Trump or Biden as President.
However it is obvious that the time for negotiation is long past, and chances are that unconditional surrender by Ukraine is the only available option at this stage of the game
Meaning that Ukraine, will end up disappearing as a national entity. There is no other way, to prevent the rebirth of a snake at the doors of Russia.
Even a blind sow occasionally finds an acorn.
Biden and his dependents are leaving US ordinary voters with a choice between Trump and endless war. Don’t they see that? WHY can’t they seek peace through sanity. What in the world do they mean by “peace through strength” in this day and age?
I’m a Trump supporter because he is much less dangerous than the idiots in the Biden administration who openly espouse cancelling and/or killing people in the name of DEI, climate change and best-enemy-money- can-buy Russia
What does ‘ Dei, climate change and best enemy money can buy russia mean? And for that matter what does Killing which people? Actually this is all word salad. Trumps climate change policy has started us down the road to hell, and his covid response was murderous. That said , biden is a major league asshole , but better than trump.
It seems everyone with common sense knows that pushing N.A.T.O. up against Russian borders is the cause of the Russian push-back against Ukraine allowing N.A.T.O to build military installations and nuclear warheads directed against Russian targets across the border. Why wouldn’t Russia try to protect itself against U.S.A., U.K., and E.U. imperialism? Russia has been backed into a corner with no option left but to fight to save it’s souverginity.
The sequence of events was that in 2014 the US replaced the legitimate Ukraine government with a US puppet. Following US backed Bandara Nazis began killing ethnic Russians. In 2016 Lindsey Graham and John McCain promised Ukraine the full military backing of the US if Ukraine would fight Russia. The US has been trying to take over Russia since 1992. The US is now in a desparation mode to destroy Russia and will apparently stop at nothing to defeat Russia, maybe even use nuclear weapons. The bottom line is that the US cannot defeat Russia but the US is controlled by morons so expect anything to happen.
Just wait till World War III begins, then the fireworks will really begins. I can see it all now with NATO on one side and Russia and a number of other countries join together to form an opposing military alliance. Then all you need is a little spark and bingo, four billion people die in a nuclear war. All this will be because the United States wants to rule the world.
Coke or Pepsi.
Both bad for ya.
Too much sugar makes ya crazy in the head and overly aggressive.
Dats America for ya.
What’s really aggravating about the US and its never-ending wars is that they don’t seem to be able to see the “big pictures”. While the US plays “king of the hill” and bangs on its chest the world is being swallowed by pesticides, massive and growing dead zones in the oceans, economies being ruined by the likes of people such as Alan Greenspan, and rampant disease throughout the planet. Anybody in the US government who suggests common sense is quickly and quietly gotten rid of because common sense doesn’t yield immediate monetary returns for the oligarchs who own and operate the US government. It’s mission impossible to explain any of it to my senators or representatives because these people simply follow orders and vote for what they are told to vote for; they are like brain dead.
Pretty good comments , in general. The bottom line is we are a military and weapons manufacturing complex masquerading as a democracy. We build and sell and utilize weapons, thats unfortunately what we do. So it is all normal what we do when thinking about it that way.