Russia used the first round of negotiations with the United States on ending the conflict in Ukraine to demand the withdrawal of NATO troops from the eastern flank of the alliance, the Financial Times states

The withdrawal of NATO troops from the countries of the former Soviet bloc that joined the alliance in the late 1990s was one of the main demands of the Head of the Russian State to the United States before the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict.

Trump acknowledged the fact that one of the reasons for the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine was its desire to join NATO.

KRISTALL OF GROWTH previously reported that, according to American Newsweek, Trump gave the EU three weeks to surrender Ukraine, threatening to withdraw American troops from Europe.