The Ukraine Proxy War > What Trump is thinking in regard to Ukraine and Russia; Ukraine getting Russian natural gas!

 

Fatal NATO promise, trusting Putin & killing BRICS: Key takeaways from Trump briefing

The US president has shared more details and thoughts about the phone call with his Russian counterpart

©  AP / Ben Curtis

US President Donald Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday evening, a day after his long-awaited phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conversation, as Trump described it, spanned topics including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, NATO’s role, economic strategies like tariffs, and the geopolitical dynamics surrounding BRICS and the G8.

Here are the key takeaways from the briefing:

Biden’s promise provoked Ukraine conflict

Trump placed the blame for the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict on his predecessor, Joe Biden, reiterating his claim that the war would never have erupted if he had remained in office. According to Trump, Biden’s statements about Kiev potentially joining NATO were a critical provocation that had directly contributed to the conflict.

READ MORE: Biden’s NATO promise to Ukraine provoked conflict – Trump

“I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow them, just in their position, could allow them to join NATO. I don’t see that happening,” the US president said on Thursday.

“And long before President [Vladimir] Putin, Russia was very strong on the fact. I believe that’s the reason the war started, because Biden went out and said that they could join NATO, and he shouldn’t have said that,” Trump asserted.

Trump elaborated on his belief that the promise of NATO membership created a security dilemma for Russia, which ultimately triggered the war. He described Biden’s statement as “reckless” and “ill-conceived,” underscoring that such commitments should never have been made without broader international consensus.

Still no NATO for Ukraine

Trump also stood by the remarks made by his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, regarding Ukraine’s hope for NATO membership, describing them as “pretty accurate” despite some public criticism. He rejected the suggestion that he should ask Hegseth to walk back his comments.

READ MORE: Trump restates view on Ukraine’s NATO chances

“Somebody told me to, but I thought his comments were good yesterday. They’re probably good today. They’re a little bit softer, perhaps. But I thought his comments from yesterday were pretty accurate,” Trump stated.

Hegseth had earlier argued that Ukraine’s aspiration to reclaim all lost territories was unrealistic and that the country should prepare for a negotiated peace. He suggested that international troops might oversee the process but emphasized that NATO membership would not be part of any peace agreement.

Russia and US to hold ‘high-level’ meeting

READ MORE: Russia and US to hold ‘high-level’ meeting in Munich – Trump

During the press conference, Trump revealed that officials from Russia and the United States were preparing for a high-level meeting in Munich.

“They’re having a meeting in Munich, tomorrow. Russia is going to be there with our people. Ukraine is also invited, by the way. Not sure exactly who’s going to be there from any country, but high-level people from Russia, from Ukraine, and from the United States.”

The president also reiterated his openness to a face-to-face meeting with Putin, possibly in Saudi Arabia. However, he cautioned that it was “a little early” to finalize such plans.

Trump ‘trusts’ Putin

Trump made it clear that he believes Putin’s desire for peace is genuine: “I believe that President Putin, when I spoke to him yesterday… I think he wants peace. I think he would tell me if he didn’t.”

Dismissing the journalists’ skepticism, Trump reiterated that he trusts Putin on this issue specifically and criticized the Biden administration for not taking earlier action to prevent the escalation of tensions into a full-blown conflict.

“I trust him on this subject. I think he’d like to see something happen,” Trump added, emphasizing that “this should have been done by Biden years ago” and that the conflict “should never have been allowed to happen” in the first place.

BRICS is ‘dead’

Trump’s press conference also touched on his administration’s new tariff plan, which he said would ensure fairness by imposing reciprocal levies on countries that impose high import duties on American goods. He singled out India as one of the most protectionist economies in the world, ahead of his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He took the opportunity to criticize the BRICS bloc for trading outside the US dollar system.

READ MORE: Modi meets Trump amid tariff tensions

“BRICS was put there for a bad purpose,” Trump warned, noting that the bloc’s ambitions threatened the dollar’s dominance.

“They’re afraid to talk about it because I told them – if they want to play games with the dollar, then they’re going to be hit with a 100% tariff… BRICS is dead since I mentioned that. BRICS died the minute I mentioned that,” Trump stated.

Inviting Moscow back to G8

READ MORE: Trump wants Russia back in G8

Trump said he would “love” to see Russia reinstated into the G7, restoring the group to its former G8 configuration. He claimed that Putin would probably “love to be back” too, even though Moscow itself showed little interest in returning after the group suspended its membership in 2014.

“I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia – it was the G8. And you know, I said, what are you doing? All you talk about is Russia, and they should be sitting at the table.”

Trump suggested that excluding Russia was a strategic misstep that might have contributed to the Ukraine conflict. “It’s very possible that if that was the G8, you wouldn’t have had the problem with Ukraine,” he added.

Nuclear de-escalation

Trump also expressed his vision of reducing global nuclear stockpiles through direct negotiations with Russia and China. He revealed plans to initiate talks on military spending and arms control when the geopolitical situation stabilizes.

“At some point, when things settle down, I’m going to meet with China and I’m going to meet with Russia, in particular those two, and I’m going to say there’s no reason for us to be spending almost a trillion dollars on military.”

He pointed out the absurdity of nations continually expanding their arsenals despite already having enough weapons to destroy the world multiple times over. 

“There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons. We already have so many you could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over,” Trump said, expressing optimism that both Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be open to such discussions.

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Ukraine buying Russian gas —Slovakia

Reverse flows are being supplied to Ukraine despite its recent transit cut to the bloc, according to Slovakia

FILE PHOTO: Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Juraj Blanar © Getty Images / SOPA Images / Contributor

Ukraine has been purchasing Russian gas via EU energy companies, Slovakia’s minister of foreign and European affairs, Juraj Blanar, stated on Wednesday. Kiev recently refused to renew a contract to transit Russian gas through its territory.

Blanar was commenting on a recent media report by the local broadcaster STVR that alleged that Slovakia was supplying Russian gas to Ukraine. The Slovak minister blasted the report as “false and manipulative.” 

“The truth is that Russian gas, which Ukraine purchased from abroad, flows to Ukraine through Slovak territory,” Blanar stated in a Facebook post. “Even an average educated person can see the huge difference between this reality and the misleading headline,” he wrote.

Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova has also denied the report, claiming that Czech and German companies have been supplying Kiev with Russian gas that merely passes through the Slovak system.

According to Slovak media outlets, reverse flows to Ukraine – estimated at 17 million cubic meters daily – started on February 6. Most of the imports reportedly go through the Hungarian, Slovak and Polish gas transportation infrastructure.

On Monday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that Slovakia has started receiving Russian natural gas via the TurkStream pipeline, averting an energy crisis in the country after Kiev halted transit.

Fico also confirmed that Ukraine was receiving gas from foreign suppliers, without which he said the country “would freeze.” 

READ MORE: Russian gas exports via key Black Sea pipeline hit historic high – Reuters

He emphasized that Slovakia was not involved in those supplies, which, according to the Slovak prime minister, have pushed European gas prices even higher.

Fico, however, argued that Slovakia has “a moral right to consider measures such as stopping foreign gas deliveries to Ukraine,” while the EU “is making a fool of itself.” 

The prime minister previously accused Zelensky of exacerbating Slovakia’s energy crisis and undermining EU interests.

TurkStream, a crucial energy corridor for transporting gas from Russia to Türkiye under the Black Sea, has become the main route for Russian gas to reach southern and southeastern Europe following Kiev’s refusal to renew the transit deal with Moscow. The decision forced Slovakia and several other EU states to seek alternative supply routes.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky defended the decision, arguing that halting Russian gas transit would deprive Moscow of crucial energy revenues. However, Slovakia and Hungary accused Kiev of deliberately triggering an energy crisis for political leverage.

Despite the developments, Moscow has reiterated its commitment to maintaining stable gas supplies via TurkStream, ensuring continued energy security for the countries that depend on it.

Data analyzed by Reuters shows that deliveries of Russian natural gas via the TurkStream pipeline have reached a historic high, exceeding 50 million cubic meters per day in January. The figure marked a 27% year-on-year increase.

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