US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO as part of a future peace deal with Russia, and ruled out lifting sanctions on Moscow until an agreement is reached.

“NATO [membership]—you can forget about it, I think that's probably the reason the whole thing started,” Trump said during a White House Cabinet meeting—and responding to a question about what concessions Ukraine would have to make to resolve the conflict.

And asked whether easing sanctions on Russia would be part of peace talks, Trump said: “No. I want to see if we make a deal [to end the war in Ukraine] first.”