National security adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday that the U.S. does “not see Ukraine being a member of NATO.”
“One thing is clear, we do not see Ukraine being a member of NATO, because that would automatically drag U.S. troops in,” Waltz told CNN’s Dana Bash of “State of the Union.”
“But Dana … look, we need to get all sides to the table, and we’re very frustrated that we did not see that from the Ukrainians after we had negotiated a minerals deal that would bind us together, grow their economy and change the nature of our aid,” he added.
Waltz’s comments follow a tense Oval Office meeting with President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vice President Vance on Friday, which featured shouting and finger-pointing. The president and Zelensky argued over U.S. support for Ukraine.
Following the meeting, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the Ukrainian president “is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.”
“I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,” Trump said on Truth Social of Zelensky.
Earlier this week, Waltz had said that Ukraine’s membership in NATO was “not back on the table.”
“I do not see the United States having Ukraine enter into NATO and then having United States troops essentially obligated immediately … in terms of Article 5 or coming to have U.S. troops, coming directly in for the defense of Ukraine. That is very different,” Waltz said on “Fox and Friends.”
In his CNN appearance, Waltz said that there is a “need” for “a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians and end this war, and if it becomes apparent that President Zelensky’s either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in his country, then I think we have a real issue on our hands.”
