Putin aide says Ukraine doesn’t have chance to join NATO
The peninsula was incorporated into Russia following a 2014 referendum that came in the aftermath of the Western-backed Maidan uprising. After the conflict in Ukraine escalated in February 2022, Kiev formally applied for NATO membership, a step Moscow has repeatedly described as a red line.
Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday, Ushakov said that “it is ironclad, a million percent [certain that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky] won’t succeed in [retaking] Crimea.” He further asserted that Ukraine’s NATO ambitions are equally unattainable.
Earlier statements from Zelensky acknowledged that Ukraine currently lacks the capacity to reclaim Crimea, though in August the Ukrainian president pledged that the region would be retaken at some point.
These remarks followed comments from US President Donald Trump, who has been mediating peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, stating that it was “impossible” for Crimea to be returned to Ukraine or for the country to join NATO.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also reiterated earlier this year that Crimea’s sovereignty under Russia is a “done deal” and commended the US president for recognizing this reality.
Last month, the Trump administration proposed a framework for a peace plan intended to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The plan, which has undergone multiple revisions, includes provisions for Kiev to abandon its NATO ambitions and relinquish claims to Crimea, as well as to the Donbass regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, all of which joined Russia following referendums.
Despite these discussions, Zelensky recently stated that “no compromise” had been reached in negotiations with the US regarding territorial matters.
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