U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 19th (local time) that membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is impossible concerning security guarantees for Ukraine.
President Trump, in a phone interview with Fox News that day, stated regarding security guarantees for Ukraine, "Some form of security guarantees will be necessary, but it is not NATO membership." He added, "That is absolutely not going to happen," asking, "If you were Russia, would you want your enemy at your border?"
He noted, "On security issues, they (Europe) want to send troops to the ground (Ukraine). We want to help them," adding, "Perhaps you can talk about air defense support. Because there is no country with such equipment like ours (the U.S.)."
President Trump also referred to the previous Trump administration's statement that U.S. troops would not be deployed to protect the Ukrainian border, saying, "I can assure you (that U.S. troops will not be deployed to Ukraine). I am the president. I am just trying to prevent people from dying."
President Trump asserted that the war in Ukraine began not only due to NATO but also the issue of Crimea, stating, "Both (joining NATO and returning Crimea) are impossible."
President Trump remarked that Russia's forced annexation of Crimea during the first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 was "entirely (former President Barack) Obama's fault," saying, "Obama handed it over without a single shot fired, and that was one of the worst transactions I've ever seen."
President Trump is arranging for President Putin and President Zelensky to meet for peace negotiations, stating, "I hope Putin does well. Zelensky will do what he has to do. Zelensky needs to show some flexibility." He continued, "I will see how the outcome turns out. If it goes well, I will participate in the trilateral meeting to finalize things."