Donald Trump (L) and Vladimir Putin arrive to waiting media during a joint press conference after … More their summit on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. Experts say Donald Trump is wrong about the history and causes of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Chris McGrath\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Experts say Donald Trump has a poor understanding of the history and causes of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Analysts believe these misconceptions and what observers identify as Trump\u2019s affinity for Vladimir Putin, despite occasional criticism, have led to U.S. peace proposals that favor Russia<\/a> and will cause Ukraine to face a new invasion.<\/p>\n Trump Gives His Views On Why Russia Invaded Ukraine<\/strong><\/p>\n In an interview<\/a> with Time magazine on April 22, 2025, the president was asked, \u201cShould Ukraine give up any hope of ever joining NATO?\u201d Trump replied by blaming Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022 on Ukraine\u2019s desire to join NATO, even though NATO had spurned the country\u2019s entry for almost two decades.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll ever be able to join NATO,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s been\u2014from day one, I think that\u2019s been, that\u2019s 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\u2019t have started.\u201d (Emphasis added.)<\/p>\n Harvard University professor Serhii Plokhy, the leading historian on Russian-Ukrainian relations, details why Trump\u2019s assertion on how the war in Ukraine started is wrong. \u201cRussia\u2019s threats to take over the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine go back to the times of Boris Yeltsin,\u201d said Plokhy. \u201cPutin acted on those threats in 2003 trying to take over Ukraine\u2019s Tuzla Island off the shores of the Crimea.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe annexation of the Crimea in 2014 was explained by the threat from NATO, which allegedly planned to establish naval bases on the peninsula,\u201d notes Plokhy. \u201cIn reality, it was a response to the Ukraine\u2019s Revolution of Dignity and determination to sign an association agreement with the European Union. By launching a war on Ukraine, Russia was not stopping NATO, which had refused to admit the country back in 2008 but was precluding the \u2018escape\u2019 of a former imperial subject from Russia\u2019s sphere of influence.\u201d<\/p>\n In The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History<\/a>, Plokhy provides an account of the history leading up to Russia\u2019s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He writes that Russia\u2019s strategy for many years\u2014up to the present\u2014has been to control Ukraine, disarm its military and choose a leadership to Putin\u2019s liking.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s contention that Ukraine\u2019s hope of joining NATO \u2018caused the war to start\u2019 is a claim that is often made, but one that doesn\u2019t stand up to scrutiny,\u201d according to Syracuse University professor Brian Taylor, author of Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction. \u201cGiven that there was no serious prospect of Ukraine joining NATO between 2008 and 2022, it\u2019s hard to see how Ukraine\u2019s hope of joining NATO at some point in the future caused the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Nothing had happened in the previous 14 years to make it likely that Ukraine could join NATO anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think most specialists on Russia and Ukraine agree that Putin\u2019s key motive for the full-scale invasion was his desire to restore Russian political control over Ukraine\u2014it wasn\u2019t about this or that piece of territory,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cThis reflects Putin\u2019s oft-stated belief that Ukraine is not a separate nation and that it is an artificial state.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPutin was motivated by imperial ideas about Ukraine, not by any fears of a security threat to Russia from NATO,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s worth noting that Russia has literally thousands of nuclear weapons to deter an attack on Russian territory. It\u2019s also worth noting that Putin seems untroubled by Finland joining NATO in 2023, even though they share a lengthy land border. In fact, Russia has moved troops<\/a> away from the Finnish border to fight in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C) speaks to reporters during a meeting with President Donald … More Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (R) and Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in the Oval Office at the White House on April 24, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The leaders discussed security, trade, NATO and the war in Ukraine. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images Trump has made other controversial statements on Russia and the war. \u201cSpeaking to reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Norway\u2019s prime minister, Trump was asked what concessions Russia has \u2018offered up thus far to get to the point where you\u2019re closer to peace,\u2019\u201d reported The Hill. Trump responded, \u201cStopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country, pretty big concession.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPutin hasn\u2019t taken Ukraine because he can\u2019t,\u201d wrote Mick Ryan, a retired major general in the Australian Army and author of The War for Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire<\/a>. He credits Ukrainians for their \u201ccourage and resilience.\u201d He adds, \u201cTo suggest \u2018not taking all of Ukraine\u2019 is a Russian concession is ludicrous.\u201d<\/p>\n Data<\/a> from the Institute for the Study of War and other sources indicate that Russia has suffered approximately 900,000 casualties (killed or wounded) since the invasion began but has not gained a significant amount of Ukrainian territory since April 2022.<\/p>\n
\nOther Controversial Trump Statements On Russia And Ukraine That Experts Dispute<\/strong><\/p>\n