Ukraine Conflict Was ‘Provoked’ By US Promise of NATO Membership

Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, has said that the US promise of NATO membership for Ukraine is what triggered the conflict.

Witkoff claims the Ukraine conflict was “provoked” and it is wrong to solely blame Russia. Trump’s senior advisor added that Moscow had to respond to a security threat created by the West’s promises to accept Ukraine into NATO.

RT reports: Witkoff made the remarks in an interview published by CNN on Tuesday, in which he was asked whether Washington was choosing the right side by holding talks with Moscow instead of continuing to funnel aid to Kiev.

The situation is not black-and-white, with Russians being “the bad guys,” Witkoff told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

“The war didn’t need to happen, it was provoked,” he added. “It doesn’t necessarily mean it was provoked by the Russians.” 

According to Witkoff, “there were all kinds of conversations… about Ukraine joining NATO” prior to the conflict that were treated by Moscow as a direct threat to its security and prompted it to respond.

The US official also spoke about Russia’s readiness to swiftly end the conflict through negotiations, pointing to the talks held in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, shortly after Moscow began its military campaign.

The peace process came to an abrupt end in May of that year when Kiev withdrew from the talks after then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged it to continue fighting.
Russian officials “have indicated that they are responsive” to ending the conflict by engaging in “cogent and substantive negotiations” in Istanbul, Witkoff said, adding that the two sides “came very, very close to signing something.”