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U.S. President Donald Trump claims that without his intervention Russia would have taken control of all of Ukraine.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump argued that most NATO countries had not been paying their “fair share” and were spending only around 2% of GDP on defense until he became president. He asserted that now Alliance members are spending “5% of GDP” on defense.
“Without my involvement, Russia would now have all of Ukraine. Remember also that I personally ended eight wars, and Norway, a NATO member, foolishly decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize — but that does not matter! What matters is that I saved millions of lives,” Trump wrote.
He added that Russia and China do not fear NATO without the United States and suggested he was unsure whether NATO would stand by Washington if the U.S. needed help. “We will always stand by NATO, even if they do not stand by us,” he insisted.
Earlier, Trump said Russia was not satisfied with the Ukrainian territories it has already occupied and wants to seize the entire country. He also recently stated that any territories Ukraine might concede for the sake of peace would be captured by Russia within months anyway.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has reportedly ordered Russian forces to continue advancing toward Zaporizhzhia and to expand the “buffer zone” in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
