Trump blames Ukraine for initiating war, says Crimea 'will stay with Russia'

President Trump blamed Ukraine for initiating the war with Russia by eying a NATO membership, adding that he thinks Crimea will stay under Moscow's control as part of a deal to end the war.

In an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, Trump expressed optimism that Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a peace deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

When asked if Ukraine should give up any hope of ever joining NATO, Trump criticized the war-torn country for talking about the security alliance.

“I don’t think they’ll ever be able to join NATO. I think that's been—from day one, I think that’s been, that's I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO. If that weren’t brought up, there would have been a much better chance that it wouldn’t have started,” Trump said.

And, when asked if it would be an acceptable deal to him if Crimea and the four other regions that Moscow has taken from Ukraine would be folded into Russia under a final accommodation, the president said Crimea would stay with Russia.

“If Crimea will stay with Russia—we have to only talk about Crimea because that's the one that always gets mentioned. Crimea will stay with Russia,” he said.

“And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time. It's been with them long before Trump came along.”

Trump said on Thursday that Russia would be making a concession toward peace if it agrees not to take over Ukraine. He has also said that Zelensky has been harder to work with than Putin.

Ukraine has agreed to Trump’s 30-day ceasefire proposal and Putin has demanded various conditions for a deal.

Trump officials have previously suggested Ukraine should expect to cede some land to Russia in exchange for peace, as well as agreeing not to join NATO, as the administration has struggled to negotiate even a limited ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv.

Trump on Thursday also demanded Putin stop attacks on Ukraine following a major assault against Kyiv Wednesday night. 

“Let me put it this way, things will happen,” Trump said. “We’re putting a lot of pressure on Russia, and Russia knows that, and people that are close to it now, or he wouldn’t be talking right now.”